Tooting

Since Twitter's recent purchase by Elon Musk I am wondering what lies ahead for that platform. Many people in the Twitterverse are predicting dark days ahead for this platform. I hope these predictions are baseless and I can keep tweeting.

I'm a believer in INSURANCE (car, health, house, travel etc.). It didn't take me too long to arrange some insurance in case I find that changes that will come to Twitter under its new ownership unpalatable.  

Yesterday Daniel Loftus in Ireland was recommending  Mastodon as a viable Twitter alternative in his Twitter feed. As I know Daniel is a cluey chap who is on top of tech issues I joined up to one of the Mastodon servers. I discovered that several of my genimates had already joined the #TwitterExodus or put a contingency plan in place by setting up an  account on Mastodon. 

My Profile needs some more editing

It didn't take long for me to join up and get the hang of this new-to-me platform, I've still a lot to learn but I think I'm going to like it. I have been working on my laptop with the desktop app but last night I also installed the Android app on my phone. 

By this morning I had built up a small list of interesting folk to follow. Once I found some people that I knew on Mastodon I checked their lists of followers/following to add people to my list - easy. 

If you join up to any Mastodon server you can follow me via this link : @JillBallAu@toot.community

If you are on Twitter and need an Insurance Policy how about Tooting with me?

I missed the party

 I missed a party on the Australian geneacalendar last night.

Twelve months ago my genimates Fran, Pauleen and Sharn launched their Australian Genealogy weekly  Twitter chat, #ANZAncestryTime. I was flattered to be invited to be a host so merrily joined the team even though I had found my earlier forays into Twitter chats quite stressful.

I soon found the fast paced Australian sessions similarly stressful.  I soldiered on in the team for a few months but decided to pull the plug on my involvement as I found the format was all a bit too fast for this old girl who is hampered by a lack of keyboarding skills and who likes to mull over things before jumping in. I now enjoy looking through the #ANZAncestryTime posts at my leisure on the morning after the chats and follow up on anything that sparks my interest. I adhere to the old adage that there are horses for courses and I just wasn't the right jockey for this venture.

I congratulate Fran, Pauleen and Sharn  for their commitment and perseverance to this venture and wish them many happy years of geneatweeting.

In Defence of Rabbit Holes and BSOs

I was a bit offended last week when catching up on the posts from the weekly ANZAncestryTime Twitter chat. I got the feeling that some folk were dismissive of Rabbit Holes and Bright Shiny Objects (BSOs). 

Bright Shiny Objects

In response to Question 4 on the chat "Q4: How do we avoid bright shiny objects (BSO's) when researching? " I responded " Why avoid BSO's? Most of the world's greatest discoveries came as a result of someone following a BSO or going down a rabbit hole. Let's not give in to #geneasnobbery and deride those whose goal is simply one of discovery and enlightenment." 

I know all that glitters is not gold but, if we avoid a proper examination of a BSO we may miss out on something of value.

Just this week a Bright Shiny Object (BSO)  in the form of an upgrade to the RootsMagic software has appeared. There has been much talk on social media about this particular BSO and its merits. Some people including renowned US genealogist Randy Seaver have spent hours exploring down the RootsMagic Rabbit Hole. I can see merit in following this BSO and spending time down that Rabbit Hole. We all have an option to avoid a BSO but, if it can potentially add to our knowledge or experience, we avoid BSOs at our peril.

Each week when Familysearch and other online providers share the news of their new resources (BSOs) I scan the lists for BSOs that interest me. If an item is shining brightly I may go burrowing immediately if I have time or I will list it for examination as soon as I have time. These BSOs and Rabbit Holes might just provide tool or clue I need the bust a long standing brickwall. After all we are regularly exhorted by experienced researchers to follow every clue, should we ignore those highlighted by BSOs and restrict ourselves to the dull and boring? I am joining Bugs Bunny and his mates by going down the Rabbit Holes that BSOs light up.

Let's go burrowing

During this recent Pandemic we have been inundated with many offerings of online learning activities, another form of BSO. I agree that we cannot go down every single rabbit hole and watch everything on offer and we need to apply some filters. But should we avoid these educational offerings (BSOs)?

I think of the great advances that have been made over the years particularly in the fields of science and technology. I realise that these have been made because those who made those important discoveries followed the BSOs of their day and spent much time down in exploration Rabbit Holes. 

BSOs are not something to be avoided, they should be examined with a critical eye and, if they appear relevant to our research, we must spend time down the rabbit holes they highlight.

MIA - The Australian Genealogists Daily

For a few weeks I have been wondering what happened to my daily Paper.li editions of The Australian Genealogists Daily Paper. Recently I hadn't seen announcements for it on Twitter so this morning decided to investigate.

When I logged in to my page and looked for recent archived editions I couldn't find any recent ones. I haven't yet ascertained how many editions have been missing. What I did find when I went to my content settings was that the content I had been sharing had disappeared and this section was blank, As there was no content to share Paper.li didn't post any notifications to share.

I have now reinstated the content I share which is from the content that is sourced from the 143 members of my Australian Genealogists List on Twitter. While I was at it I also added my Youtube Channel as a content source. I will add some blog URLs from prominent Australian bloggers when I get a chance.

If you have been following The Australian Genealogists Daily notifications should appear in your Twitter feed soon. If you don't like Twitter you can create a Paper.li account and Subscribe to your favourite papers.

Are you following @Congress_2018

I was surprised, when I looked at Twitter today to find that there are only five people (including Alona from @GouldGenealogy https://twitter.com/GouldGenealogyand me) following Tweets from the Congress organisers.

In case you had missed it the the Twitter hashtag for Congress 2018 (The 15th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry. 9 - 12 March 2018 http://www.congress2018.org.au/ ) is #congress_2018 and the Twitter handle is @congress_2018.

If you have a Twitter account how about showing your support for Congress?

An Epic time at EPIC

There were many references to Australia and Australians of Irish descent at Epic Ireland (a new attraction) in Dublin today. We spent several hours there and I then had a consultation at The Irish Family History Centre which is part of the site. A fabulous experience all round.

My moment of fame on the Twitter wall - how cool!

An Anniversary for #TroveTuesday

Three years ago I wrote about a new hashtag and blogging prompt for geneabloggers and Troveites downunder. As turning three is an auspicious anniversary I am republishing that post from 2012.

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

I read on Twitter yesterday of a new (to me) blogging prompt with a real Aussie flavour.

Amy Houston of the Branches, Leaves and Pollen blog was busy on Twitter promoting Trove Tuesday, where she said "Aussie bloggers - join me on "Trove Tuesday" & write a blog post about a treasure you've found on Trove! @troveaustralia @geneabloggers".

Twitter  21 August 2012

What a great idea, Amy. I've missed the boat for this week but will try to get a post ready for next Tuesday.

Are any other Australian Geneabloggers going to take up Amy's invitation? 

From the Archives - Twitter Followers - Quality or Quantity?

From time to time I come across an old post and that I think is worth reposting. It's three and a half years since I wrote this. I now have 1,298 followers and I follow 693 tweeps.

Twitter Followers - Quality or Quantity?

I am sometimes disappointed when I see messages like " Just noticed we're on 995 followers. Can we break thru the barrier?" that was posted on behalf of a government organisation that I admire this morning.  Another Australian cultural institution this morning tweeted "Hip hip hooray for our 1000th (don't try to say that out loud) follower." Another Australian organisation recently gave a prize to their 1000th follower.

I realise that these places see Twitter as a marketing tool, and it is a valuable one, but who are they trying to reach? Everyone or those who are likely to benefit from their services via the information they post on Twitter?

I just wonder how adding more users like  TowPimp (Free Junk Car Removal Victoria Bc) or M9LipsYouro ♥MyLipsSuxUDry♥  will benefit these organisations. 

A lot of individuals who have twitter accounts also blow their trumpets when they reach milestone numbers of followers. I hope that all of my followers gain some value from my tweets but I sincerely doubt that some do and I cannot fathom why they follow me.

I get a real buzz when someone from the worlds of genealogy, education, technology or libraries follows me. When someone I respect from these fields or a family member follows it is cause for a happy dance. 

I have amongst my followers a Mobile Mechanic from New Zealand (I'm not floating my car across the Tasman for a service), The unofficial biggest Broncos fan (I detest Rugby League), Leonor Brockmann whose image is a pair of silicon enhanced mammary glands, HotelSuggest  a price comparison service for hotels,  DealsFromSFO  Deals from San Francisco and ConceptionAU - 

we have over 1,000 Egg Donors and Surrogates available now. I am flummoxed as to what value these tweeps would get from following me and, as I am not interested in them or their services, I certainly won't be following them. Perhaps they share some of my interests but I doubt it.

I could not and would not shout for joy if and when I reach 500 Twitter followers as some of them are definitely not members of my intended target group. 

I'll back Quality over Quantity any time.

A New Page AFFHO 2015

I'm a bit excited about my role as an Official Blogger for Congress 2015 in Canberra and have been thinking of ways to share the excitement.

I realise that much information goes out on Twitter that non Twitter users miss so, as a bit of an experiment,  I have set up a page on this blog, AFFHO 2015, that (hopefully) will capture the conversation on Twitter relating to The 14th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry in March. If you look at this page when you visit my blog you will see a summary of the latest news from the Twittersphere.

The content comes from a widget I have created that should capture all tweets that contain AFFHO so it should capture all tweets from the Congress Twitter account as well as those that use the Congress Hashtag #AFFHO. The content will change as new tweets appear so it will display just the latest news.

REMINDER Earlybird registration closes on October 31. Act now to save on fees.

Savvy Sharing

I know I've posted previously on netiquette but I can't seem to find that post (I need better tags!) anyway it's about time for another rant to share some more thoughts. I hadn't planned this spontaneous post, it was something I just had to get off my chest and a resource I found gave me a shove.

Recently two newish Tweeps representing genealogy organisations I am familiar with have starting tweeting in earnest. I have been concerned that these newbies are not using Twitter effectively to promote their brands or messages.

It appears that they log onto Twitter at a particular time, send out a barrage of tweets and then go away for a few days. What is also unfortunate is that they also retweet indiscriminately posting items that are not particularly relevant to their organisations' missions or aims. Retweeting alone is not satisfactory they must also post original material.

While it is fantastic to see people embracing social media there is a danger that if they donn't think about why, when and what they are tweeting their presence will be ineffective or even annoying.

As I was reading through my RSS feeds this morning I found this very useful infographic originally posted  at http://www.tollfreeforwarding.com/blog/social-media-etiquette-guide/ and shared today by Stephen Abram.

Although it is directed at business the tips are also pertinent to organisations and individuals. The very first point for Facebook "It's okay to update several times a day but space out your posts every few hours" is relevant to Twitter and the new tweeps I mentioned above. 

For a copy of the infographic that you can actually read go here

Australian Genealogists Daily

Several years ago (I can't remember when) I set up a Paper.li Paper "The Australian Genealogists Daily. I was reminded of the usefulness of this little experiment by Shuana Hicks in her blog post this week.

What is Paper.li ? Their website states "Paper.li is a content curation service. It enables people to publish newspapers based on topics they like and treat their readers to fresh news, daily. We believe that people (and not machines) are the ones qualified to curate the content that matters most."

How do I manage the Paper? I set up an "Australian Genealogists list" on my Twitter account and then went over to Paper.li and chose "Create Paper" from their menu, I followed their instructions and from the options selected "a twitter name or list" from the options displayed in  "Choose your paper’s content", I used my "Australian Genealogists list".  "The Australian Genealogists Daily". was born. Apart from adding new people to the list I do nothing, it is an automated service.

Where does the content come from? It is randomly selected by Paper.li from the tweets of the 89 people and organisations on my list. If you take a look at the list you will notice that there are no commercial organisations there, it is composed mostly of Australians individuals (including expats) or societies who identify as having an interest in family history. As I find someone new I add them to the list. I need your help to let me know of any person or society I may have missed and I will add them.

How do you get the Paper? Both Shauna Hicks and I have a daily automated tweet that lets one know when the paper is delivered or you can subscribe to updates by email here: https://paper.li/geniaus/australian-genealogists.

Front page of today'sedition

If you want to keep abreast of genealogy news downunder then "The Australian Genealogists Daily is a good place to start.

Sharing the Love #NFHM2014

There is an amazing menu of events for National Family History Month over on their website. These events are taking place all over Australia and in cyberspace as well.

#NFHM2014

I imagine that several thousands of Australian enthusiasts will attend one or more of these events and some will even report on them on social media or other websites. I would love to hear what they are attending, delivering or learning but there are several places on the web where reports are being posted. I follow Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and over 200 Australian genealogy and history blogs but know that I am missing out on lots of news.

#NFHM2014

Voluntary co-ordinator of the event Shauna Hicks recently tweeted the hashtag for National Family History Month. If we all include the hashtag #NFHM2014 when reporting on events then search engines may index the posts.

#NFHM2014

I am not a huge fan of Twitter but I think, it certain situations it is an excellent vehicle for aggregating news. If those of us with Twitter accounts write a short tweet with any #NHFM2014 news we find  then others can access Twitter, do a search by the hashtag and get a results list containing relevant posts.

#NFHM2014

At the moment, if I do such a search on Twitter, presently many of tweets containing the hashtag  #NFHM2014 come from one Twitter user - me. How about turning that around? 

#NFHM2014

If you or your society has a blog or website you could attach a  #NHFM2014 label or tag to your post or article.

Let's share the love for National Family History Month by using the hashtag.

Join our next GeniAus Hangout on Air - What a Month that was - #NFHM2014 

Details https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/c250rpao6g1a99j1taoruss8teg

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Postscript: The power of hashtags

It is only about two minutes since I published this post. look what happened when I did a search for the hashtag.

Noise Reduction

James O'Brien recently blogged about  NOISE.

This blog post really struck a chord with me and got me thinking about my social media and online contacts and how they were (dis)organised. So over the past week I have been in evaluation mode, like James I need to reduce and manage the NOISE in my life.

To date I have tried to organise my email accounts having set up a new Gmail account this week. I now have four free email accounts and an account at my website host. There are three Gmail accounts and one Outlook account (an insurance policy in case Gmail is down/dies). I used to have just one Gmail account but since Google have made it possible for me to log into all of my accounts from my laptops and devices I think it is easier for me to have separate accounts.

My new Gmail account is for stuff I can do without - I have been very busy this week unsubscribing from lots of email lists and resubscribing from this new account to those I still want to follow. When I am on holidays or just too busy I can just ignore the messages that come through here. There will be less NOISE in my main mailbox.

My oldest Gmail account is to be my main account for personal correspondence etc. The problem is that I have been using this for years for family history things as well so it will take some time to move my family history correspondence and contacts over to my second Gmail account that I have printed on my business card. The emails that come in from people who contact me via my family website are presently forwarded to my personal Gmail account, I am will change this so they are forwarded to the account I will use for genealogy.

I am hoping that, by compartmentalising my email, I might be able to reduce some NOISE.

My next job is to follow James' lead and clean up my Twitter contacts so that Twitter becomes a useful tool once more. 

Recycling - Methinks some people tweet too much

Every so often I republish a post of old. The following post first appeared on this blog on June 8, 2010. Since I wrote this article the number of genealogists using the tool has grown enormously, I do not even try to keep up with all the tweets in my stream any more but just drop in when I have some time. I still find Twitter especially useful for sharing news from events.

Having read this old post I still agree with what I said nearly four years ago about Twitter use.

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Twitter is a wonderful resource for learning about current news and new resources. My problem is how to use Twitter for family history responsibly.

I don't want to clog up the tweet streams of my followers with useless tweets so I don't retweet items that a number of my followers who have the same follower base have already retweeted.

Neal Chambers says that "The most important thing about your Twitter account is your username. This will be used to identify you in the Twitter stream and how people will find your account (http://twitter.com/username) It's best to choose something easy to remember/spell. A perfect example of this is your real name (gasp!)." I chose Geniaus as I wanted something short and easy to remember that indicated my interest in genealogy and my location and interest in Australia. If you do not want to use your own name think of a short identity that somehow describes you. I particularly like @infolass, @geneabloggers, @genebrarian and @geneaphile.

The nine essentials of Twitter etiquette includes the advice "Don't feel compelled to tweet regularly. I promise that if you take a personal tweet-free day, your audience will understand." One does not need to tweet every day, interesting news does not arrive at regular intervals but in waves, one's pattern of tweeting can reflect these peaks and troughs. Less is more.

Some Twitterers with a commercial affiliation use Twitter as a marketing tool and seem to retweet endlessly; I am tempted to unfollow them but I might miss some of the original snippets they post. The Search Marketing Spin Blog warns against being"Re-tweeting Machines: If all you do is re-tweet, that can get annoying as well. I definitely encourage re-tweeting articles and thoughts that are deemed important, but keep that as part of the overall mix." I wish Twitter had a facility where one could select individual settings for those one follows ie so one could select to see just a user's original tweets, retweets, replies or any combination of these. 

"Don’t RT Yourself If you have multiple Twitter accounts, for example one for personal stuff and another for work, please do not Retweet what you said on another account. If people want to follow both, they will. There’s a reason you have two accounts: not everyone cares about both of your online personalities." This advice from "Online etiquette: Tweet with care" should be heeded by some genealogy Tweeters.

In Mind your twitter manners Jacqueline Whitmore says: "Don’t spam. If people are following you, they are going to want real content that matches their interests or teaches them something new. If you are sending out numerous tweets that are trying to sell your products, you will quickly lose your following. People have enough spam through e-mail and don’t want this to be another source of excess clutter."

I actually unfollow and refollow some people while they are at events and conferences. A PCWorld article "Twitter Etiquette: How to Tweet Politely" states "Reconsider the running commentary. Live-tweeting sporting events or conference speeches may seem like a public service, but who's listening? If you normally use Twitter to post once-a-week status updates but then abruptly let fly with 80 tweets in a day, you'll aggravate followers who aren't expecting their account to be inundated by your sudden outpouring. Consider composing a blog post instead, or offer a single succinct observation each hour".

"Don't bother re-tweeting the big dogs" is more sage advice from The nine essentials of Twitter etiquette includes the advice. Most people interested in genealogy will follow Ancestry and FamilySearch and other major organisations in their countries, don't retweet what most of your followers will have already read.

One of my pet hates is the Follow Friday post where one thanks followers. These posts seem impersonal to me and clog up tweet streams. If a thank you is warranted one can send a private thankyou via a direct message. It is important to build relationships on Twitter; this can be done by sending public individual thankyous, using the reply function and retweeting followers' posts.

Remember that your Tweets are in the public domain. If you say something on Twitter you are potentially telling the world. Your tweets can be read by everyone.

#NSWACT13

It's been a hectic day at the Family History Fair in Canberra today. So busy that I only managed one blog post done from my camera.

And guess what? In my haste I posted it to the wrong blog. So if you'd like to see a happy snap of Conference Convenor, Kerrie Gray, you'll have to take a look at ballau.blogspot.com .

In the interim lots of people have been tweeting about the day's events. Just do a search on the hashtag #NSWACT13 and you'll find tips and news tweeted by the usual culprits.

Tweet your Thanks and Praise

Before I removed the feed of National Family History Month tweets with the #NFHM13 hashtag from this blog I copied and saved them into a document. It will be interesting to compare this 2013 list with what may be posted in 2014.

Twitter is the tool that is commonly used to message from events, Twitter is a tool used by those we want to attract to join our family history groups and societies, ie younger people. If we want to broadcast and share our enthusiasm for #NFHM or other events with youngsters we must use the media they use.

Scanning the Tweets posted during National Family History Month I noted that only a couple of institutions and commercial organisations or their members tweeted about the events they hosted or attended. Twitter provides an easy mechanism for thanking and praising those who organise events on our behalf.

I estimate that a few thousand people attended #NFHM13 events and that many of them enjoyed and learnt something from those events. Did those who attended send a thank you note or a message of praise to the organisers of the events? Did they blog about the events?  Did they put a thankyou message on the National Family History Month Facebook Page? I wonder how many thankyous Shauna Hicks who devoted so much time and energy to the event received.

My mother always impressed upon me the importance of saying thankyou. I find that Twitter enables me to tell not just the organiser of or presenter at an event about the great work they have done but it allows me to broadcast my praise.

Twitter is too busy a place for me to spend time every day but it has its uses. When I attend a great event it is a tremendous tool for sharing my enthusiasm, thanks and praise with the world. And, as I can't be everywhere, it is also my window to other events.

Trove Tuesday

There are just too many tweets on Twitter for me to see all that is posted to my stream. This morning I thought I'd see what is happening in the world of genealogy so I searched the hashtag #genealogy to see what was doing.

A tweet from my genimate, Deb Ruth, caught my eye:

After following the link in the Tweet , I retweeted Deb's tweeet.

The article was about Trove and the newspapers from the Bega region that have been digitised and are now available for searching. So what's so unusual about this?   Deb is a genealogist from the United States; I thought it ironic that I was learning about an Australian resource via a connection in the US. 

Ahh! The power of social media.

Also interesting is that the lady pictured in the article is named Margaret Sly. I wonder if she is a distant cousin as I have quite a few Sly people in my database and some of them come from Bega!

Worked out what I can do...

It's National Family History Month here in Australia and there are lots of celebrations hosted by institutions and organisations happening all around the Nation.

I have been pondering what I, as an individual, could do to recognise National Family History Month. I was looking at Twitter this morning before I went out  and it came to me; it had to be something related to Social Media. I could add a widget that shows all the tweets posted using the hashtag #NHFM13 to the sidebar of my blog for the month of August.

As well as keeping me informed about what people have to say about the month and from the events they attend it will highlight the celebration to people who read my blog (most of them are from North America). Readers closer to home might also take a look Twitter feed when they visit my blog.

I did it and it was a piece of cake using the Widgets tool in Twitter. Please remember to use the hashtag #NFHM13 when you talk about National Family History Month on Social Media.

My Twitter Widget tool

If this is not your thing you can find a list of 31 Activities for Researchers & Societies on Shauna Hicks' blog.

What are you doing to recognise National Family History Month?

A Glorious and Unforgettable Ride

Early last week I put out a question on Twitter "Need help please. What three things make a geneablog great?#genealogy" and on Google+ "I need your help so that something I am working on is just not my opinion.. What three (or more) features make a geneablog great?"

This post is my thankyou to those generous genies from Australia, Britain, Europe, New Zealand  and the US who took the time to message their thoughts to me.  Thanks to you I have developed a rough rubric to assist me with the task I am completing for Inside History Magazine ('m not saying any more on that for the minute).

The title of this post comes from what I think was the most original response; Caroline Pointer suggested that great geneablogs are  "Ones that take me on a glorious and unforgettable ride. And all the other stuff everyone else suggested."

As I received the suggestions I popped them in a Google Doc. I am pasting those suggestions here so that you can see what others think.

Do you agree? Do you have anything else to add?

Creativity in resources; ability to tell a story, not relate facts; range of topics - Jen Baldwin

Originality, follower engagement, humour, humility - Karen Ball

Content, consistency and originality - Amy Coffin

Content, easy reading style, up to date information - Linda Elliott

1. problem, resolution and method described (preferably in 1 post) Context, historical and social.Engaging writing style. Good build up of story. - Taco Goulooze

One that tells a story, not just a list of dates, places and names. photos, plus other suggestions above :) - Diane Hewson

Societal context of the era, interesting anecdotes about ancestors & images of either - Annette Hughes

Originality, originality and originality -Tamura Jones

Photos, easy to navigate (and search), and writing with an opinion or position - not simply press releases  - Tessa Keough

Truthfulness; photos and/or videos; clean display without a lot of side "junk" - Kenneth R Marks

Tone, writing style, appearance - Jenna Mills

Originality, yes, content yes. Consistency maybe not. - Susi Pentico

Ones that take me on a glorious and unforgettable ride. And all the other stuff everyone else suggested - Caroline Pointer

Accuracy. If you talk about repositories or procedures get your facts straight - Carole Riley

Personal story and context, the "how" of the finding out, range of content - Helen V Smith

Trove Tuesday

I read on Twitter yesterday of a new (to me) blogging prompt with a real Aussie flavour.

Amy Houston of the Branches, Leaves and Pollen blog was busy on Twitter promoting Trove Tuesday, where she said "Aussie bloggers - join me on "Trove Tuesday" & write a blog post about a treasure you've found on Trove! @troveaustralia @geneabloggers".

Twitter  21 August 2012

What a great idea, Amy. I've missed the boat for this week but will try to get a post ready for next Tuesday.

Are any other Australian Geneabloggers going to take up Amy's invitation?