While there are economic and environmental benefits to blogging for genealogical research, there is a downside as well. “Traditional researchers tend to belong to one or more local genealogy societies with frequent meetings and classes,” explained genea-blogger Thomas MacEntee in an email. “Genea-bloggers can become very isolated in their research pursuits and not interact with people.”
To prevent that, MacEntee, who runs the genea-blog Destination Austin Family, and his fellow genealogy bloggers have set up a genea-blogger community with a number of resources. MacEntee has set up the GeneaBloggers website along with geni@pedia to provide more resources for those researching family history through their blogs. These websites complement the Genea-Blogger group already on Facebook.
Tombstone Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday: Traditional Posts on Genealogy Blogs
The number one reason to post is to allow family surnames to get picked up by search engines, explained MacEntee. Over time, a few posting traditions have also sprung up. On “Wordless Wednesday” genea-bloggers simply post a photo, usually of ancestors. MacEntee said the practice has been around since at least October 2006 and is a favorite with genea-bloggers. “It makes for an easy post (just a photo) and it fulfills the need to post on a regular basis,” he said.
On “Tombstone Tuesday” genealogy bloggers post a photo of a tombstone from their ancestry search, along with the back story of the ancestor involved. Started by Amy Crow in June 2008, MacEntee said Tombstone Tuesday is “another way to post on a regular basis and to get those surnames out there for others to find.”
Genealogy Blog Carnivals
A blog carnival is a collection of posts gathered around a central theme. One blogger serves as the “host”. On his or her blog the host provides short descriptions of, and links to, all the posts other blogs have written about the theme. Readers use the host blogger’s description page to click on posts that interest them.
MacEntee calls the Carnival of Genealogy, in its 65th edition, “the mother of all carnivals”. Genealogy bloggers host many other blog carnivals relating to ancestry search, including:
- Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture
- Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy
- Carnival of Canadian Genealogy
- Smile for the Camera
The Increasing Popularity of Genea-Blogs
Someone beginning a genealogy blog will find lots of company. MacEntee has seen a large spike in membership at the Genea-Bloggers Facebook group he runs. “Many people set ‘do genealogy research’ or ‘find family history’ as well as ‘set up genealogy blog’ as New Year’s resolutions,” he explained. A slow economy and winter weather have also contributed to the increasing number of genealogy researchers choosing this method to help trace their family history.
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