I recently connected with some very distant cousins research my Hall line and I've spent the last week working on it. I hadn't looked at my file for some of the branches of this line for years so it was a very good thing they contacted me. When I first started out I made some very wrong assumptions and added them to my file. I spent a good part of last weekend going over that part of the tree and trying to fix it. Hoping I have it all untangled now and have everyone in the correct family. I continue to move laterally along the brickwalls in this line in hopes of finding that loose brick or two that will bring the whole thing down!
A big frustration was trying to fix both on file on my computer and my tree at ancestry.com. In reading Randy's article about FTM 2010 I think it will be much easier in the future, as I can work on just one tree and simply download it to the other. The thing is I have been very frustrated with FTM 2008 because it is sooooooooo slow. I hate to spend good money and still be unhappy. Several people have recommended that I switch to Roots Magic. I have to make a decsion soon.
I spent way too much time at FaceBook this week. I find myself reading blog articles there. Then I get them again in my reader. I also see lots of comments left at FB on blog articles rather then on the actual blogs. Before joining FB I had wondered if that was where the commenting had disappeared to. It's sad because comments left there aren't available to others reading reading the blog online.
I also have added We're Related to my page there. What is the point? I have yet to figure out how to look at anyone else's tree. It keeps asking me to add my "friends." I've added my sister and my nieces. I guess I could add Randy and Bill too now that I stop and think about it but what will it do if I do that? Will it then suggest that I become "friends" with all of their "friends." I haven't found a page that really explains what We're Related really does or how best to use it. I thought it might search other FB user's trees and see if we connect. FB continually suggests people that I should add as friends based on my friend's, friends. There was one suggestion seemingly out of the blue for another very distant cousin, who does not seem to be a friend of any of my other friends, so does that mean the program is working? There was no reference to We're Related. (I've sent her a friend request.) I have found other distant cousins on FB that it has not suggested and that I have not contacted yet. I guess I feel funny about saying, "Hey I'm your 3rd cousin, six times removed. Do you want to be friends?"
The whole friend thing still is weird to me. Maybe if they called it something else I'd be better with it. I'm also finding myself on information overload on FB. How on earth do those of you with several hundred friends manage!?
I feel guilty about the time I did not spend working outside this week. Even though it has been a cool, wet summer our summers here are too short to not spend as much time outside as we can. I'll try to get back to posting letters as I can. I really need to find some way to manage my time better for the next few weeks!
5 comments:
I've noticed that few people click through and join blog discussions from FB, too. I don't have a good solution, and I really believe the comments relate to just the short preview they see in the stream on FB. It is a shame to lose the conversation on our blogs because of that.
Second, I am a very happy RootsMagic user, but I also know the pain of switching. I hope your decision suits your style and needs.
I'm on FaceBook, too. I haven't seen a place to build a tree there, so I don't know if FB could search other's trees. I only use FB to keep up with my friends and play games. I use Family Tree Maker and Ancestry.com to do my genealogy. I joined the Genealogy Group on FB, but I haven't gotten much out of it.
I really enjoy your blog and it's a shame that people leave comments on FB and don't come all the way to your blog to comment. You are so fortunate to have letters your ancestors wrote. I think it's exciting to have examples of our ancestors' handwriting, and letters are very precious in this age of e-mail.
Keep up the wonderful job you do on your blog!
Hi Crabby, I too am very discouraged with FTM 2009 because it is super slow! I did, however, get hooked on the ability to look up records on ancestry.com directly from the FTM software and to add them as sources. Although as you may have heard, the sources it creates are quite haphazard. I think the ability of rootsweb to be used "on the go" might supercede any of FTMs abilities.
I too was overwhelmed on FB. However, I finally went through my list of 350+ friends and put each one into a "list" so I have a list for High School classmates, geneabloggers, family, friends, etc. That has helped a lot because then you can select that list on the left side of your home page and just look at feed for that list.
We're Related is useless and stupid, but it makes me feel good to see family members on my front profile page ;)
Regarding leaving comments on blogs in FB...you are right, I just realized this was happening. I don't mind too much because I rarely go to the actual blog page (I use my reader) and the comments do not show up on the reader. I do go to the actual post if I want to see the comments. I like FB though because I get more comments from my non-geneabloggers!
Thanks everyone. It isn't so much the comments here that I was noticing but a trend in general. Posts on other blogs where I'd expect to see a dozen or more comments often only have 2 or 3.
I'll have to try making lists on FB. I'm tempted to create a folder on mt reader for those blogs that I see on FB and stop seeing them twice that way.
You have identified the same frustrations I've had for a year now with FB. And a year down the line I still don't understand why people do what they do on FB vs their blog... and throw Twitter in the mix and you'll see the whole picture becomes even more confusing.
The redudancy is something I've come to hate... it's such a time waster! Why don't others see it and stop doing it? I think the simple answer is they are caught up in the numbers game. They must have every possible reader they can get! They are so worried that someone who's on FB but not a blog reader might miss their post. Or maybe there is someone who only follows Tweets not FB or blogs... heaven forbid they miss the opportunity to promote their blog/post to that person! Meanwhile, they waste our time with all the repeated promotions of their posts. I hate it and I've come to resent them for wasting my time.
So what's the answer? I have no idea. I've tried to opt out of FB and Twitter and that left me totally out of the loop. How I wish the FB and Twitter programs that allow "automatic" posting of blog posts didn't exist! If folks had to waste their own time by manually posting each of their blog posts on FB and Twitter maybe they'd think twice about putting out so much redundant information!!!
Great blog post Apple!
Signed,
Crabby Jasia Too!
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