Where Have All the Readers Gone?

Wow! I cannot believe it's been almost 8 months since my last post! I have GOT to do better!

I know what the problem is, though -- it's FACEBOOK. See, once upon a time, I used to share my research discoveries, and other genealogy-related musings, here, or on my less personal, "Genea-Related" blog. For years, I felt a sense of kinship and belonging within a large, supportive group of genealogy bloggers. But, then, two things kinda happened at about the same time, and those concurrent events seemed to work together to lure me (and perhaps many others) from posting (regularly) to our blogs.

In my opinion, the BIG thing that happened was that more and more genealogy groups began to pop up on Facebook. These groups started off with broad-topic ranges, but over time, the groups became more and more specific in scope - categorized in a variety of ways, by ethnicity, location, social/civic involvement, military service, and/or DNA-focused interests. As these groups grew larger in membership, I noticed a decline in the number of comments on, and visits to my blogs. Instead, people drifted over to the instantaneous feedback that Facebook allows, along with its ability for users to engage in "conversation" with each other about, and directly under each post. At first, I was reluctant to join in. After all, I'd been on Facebook since 2007, when I'd joined during my youngest's first year of college, just so I could see some pictures shed wanted to show me. At that time, very few "people my age" were even on FB, but over the next couple of years, my "real" friends began to join, and the site began to serve as a place for sharing pictures and daily happenings with my family and friends.
As time went on, I began to miss the feedback I'd been used to getting when I would post to my blogs. Comments became sparse, to none, and I guess I started feeling like no one was reading. (I know that the purpose isn't supposed to be to entertain others, but we all need a little support, and the feedback was invaluable.) Anyway, I eventually began to poke around in some of the Facebook
groups, and soon, the old,"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" adage won out. So, I dove in, joining groups for the NC counties from which my ancestors hailed, groups for African ancestry, for genealogical societies to which I belonged, and MORE! I began to notice that those people who were still posting on blogs, would publish the links to their posts on Facebook, and all of the commenting was being done there, instead of on the blogs. I became so active, so fast, that genea-matters began to totally consume my feed, and I was hardly ever seeing posts from my original friends. Not only that, I became a bit self-conscious about my hundreds of new "friends" being privy to my personal life, etc., so I decided it best to create a separate Facebook profile, just for genealogy. And, that was all she wrote! :)

The second factor which led to a slowdown in blog-posting, and surely contributed to the decrease in number of readers and commentary, was the demise of the very popular, Google Reader. The majority of us in the blogosphere seemed to have used this platform to organize and deliver the posts of the weblogs we each followed. When Google announced that its Reader was being discontinued, several options were given for new readers to which users could transfer. I chose Feedly; but it just hasn't been the same, and the transfer did not work, 100%. My guess is that this is true for many, and that's probably why we've all lost readers. Also, the interface is quite different, and in order to comment, one must click out of the program, to go,directly to the blog site, and then come back. I also find it frustrating that only small sections of posts open at one time.

So, why am I writing about all of this? Well, honestly, I hadn't planned to. I came here to write a post
about finding my dad's Marine Corps dog tags, but when I saw how long it had been since I'd posted,
I decided to "say something", and it turned into this post.  I'm still going to write that one; and I will share it (and this one) on Facebook (lol), but I'd like to ask just ONE favor of everyone who's actually ready this. Please ma'am, please sir: Just leave me one tiny comment here on the blog. I'd really like to get an idea of who is still even reading, so that I can make some decisions about how I'd like to go forth with my writing. Oh, I am going to renew my commitment to writing, the only question is, "What will my platform be?

Thanks for reading!
Renate

My Very First Genealogy Conference - AAHGS 2013

Woo-hoo!  I've finally done it!  I am here in Nashville, Tennessee, attending the 34th National Conference of the Afro-American History and Genealogical Society!  Although I've been a member of this organization (Hampton Roads Chapter) for several years, I've never attended this, or any other genealogy conference.  I'm so excited!

Day 1
I arrived in Nashville yesterday, early in the morning.  After picking up my rental car at the airport, I rushed over to what I thought was the conference hotel, to try to catch the bus that was heading out to tour the Wessynton Plantation.  However, I went to the wrong hotel, missed the bus, and ended up driving the 35 or so miles out to the plantation.  It all worked out perfectly, though.  I pulled up at the same time as the bus, and actually was able to help out with my vehicle to transport some of the folks up the long drive to the property (since the bus couldn't go up). And, although I'd been a bit nervous about joining the group, "cold", they were all so welcoming and warm, that I immediately felt right at home with them.  And, to put the icing on the cake, my genea-friend, Angela Walton-Raji, was one of the first people I saw!  I'd met Angela before, in Washington, DC, so hers was a familiar face, and it was really great to see her!

       Angela Walton-Raji, and another conference attendee on the grounds of Wessynton Plantation.

 

 

Anyway, once we all got up to where the main house is located, we had a presentation by our host, John F. Baker, a direct descendant of Wessynton Plantation slaves, and author of the book, "The Washingtons of Wessyngton.  He talked to us for about 45 minutes, sharing his knowledge of the property, the original owners, and of his enslaved ancestors. He also had many oversized, laminate photos to share, not only of the Washington homeowners, but also of the plantation's slaves!  These, he passed around, after describing the subjects and telling what he knew about them.

After John's talk, we began our walking tour of the property, beginning with the "Big House" and the family cemetery.  Next, we took a very long (and unexpected) HIKE through high grass and brush, and up, down, and around hills (dodging "cow patties" along the way), to visit the slave cemetery.  Sometime ago, the White Washington descendants funded the creation of a monument on this site, with the names of 35+ slaves who John has been able to document as being buried there.  Plans are in the works to use sonar-wave technology to determine exactly how many bodies are interred there, and where.  Once we accomplished the long, hot, exhausting walk back to our starting point, I left the plantation to head back to the (right) hotel to get checked in, and to attend the "First Time Attendees" session.

The First Time Attendees session was nice.  It was led by Dr. Shelley Murphy, President of the Central Virginia Chapter of AAHGS, and a genea-friend I'd had the pleasure of meeting, about a year ago.  Shelley did a great job of acclimating all of us to the conference atmosphere, and of encouraging us to get the most out of the conference by talking, sharing, and networking with others. At the end of the session, we took a group picture, which I'm told will be on the AAHGS Facebook page (but I don't see it there, yet). :)

Moderator Shelly Murphy works the room.

 



One of the greatest joys about being here is that I'm meeting people "in the flesh", whom I've known and communicated with, online, for several years.  While standing in the 4:00 p.m. registration line, I "met" my long-time genea-blogging friend, Mavis Jones.  It was so funny, because we'd been standing very near each other, but I didn't realize it. I turned around and saw her, and went right over to her with a questioning, "Mavis?  Is that you?"  She responded, that it was, and showed me that she had her phone out.  She'd seen me, and was about to call or text me to ask if I happened to be standing in the registration line...lol.  We both got a laugh out of that. :)  After registering, Mavis and I, along with her beautiful mother (who accompanied her to the conference), and another member of my chapter, all went out to a great dinner at a nearby restaurant, where we shared stories and laughs, and just got to know one another.  Then, we returned to the conference site, where we attended the "State of the Society" Meeting, and the Prelude Reception.  At the meeting, the first-timers were recognized, again!  We were called up by name, and were presented with AAHGS pins, which were put on us by chapter presidents. I thought that was a very nice touch!  The reception featured heavy h'orderves, hot and cold beverages, and a cash bar.  It was a nice, relaxing way to end the evening

Dinner!

Day 2
My second conference day was fun and information-filled.  It began with a light breakfast in the hotel's atrium, followed by the opening plenary session.  The planned speaker was unable to be here, due to a family emergency, but her last-minute stand in Pamela Foster, did a very nice job of discussing the role of music in the lives of our ancestors, and focusing us all in on the genre of "country music", as it may relate to our African-American family histories.  We watched a video of a current-day, African-American country musician, Darius Rucker, and I have to say that I was amazed at how much I enjoyed his song, "Wagon Wheel"!  We also listened to, and looked at the original wording of, "Carry Me Back to Ole Virginny".  I was surprised that I'd never heard these lyrics, nor did I know that the song was written by a Free Person of Color from New York.  I plan to follow up with a bit of study on that!

I attended two sessions today.  In the morning, I thoroughly enjoyed, "Port Royal: The Birthplace of Freedom in the Old South", which was presented by another online genea-friend, Toni Carrier.  Toni was one of the very first people I connected with in the online genealogy community, way back so far that I don't even know what year it was.  But, I'd never had the opportunity to meet her in person. I was honored to do so, today, because she has highly-respected, researcher, and is as personable and friendly in "real life", as she is online!

I'm so glad to finally meet Toni Carrier!

I left the conference at midday, and took a self-guided, driving tour of Fisk and Tennessee State Universities, accompanied by my fellow Hampton Roads Chapter member.  In addition, we checked out The Parthenon, a replica of the real one, which is (for some reason) located here in Nashville.  I can't wait to show my students, who will be learning about this structure, soon.  I plan to tell them that I went to Greece! (But, I will come clean after I see the expressions on their faces.) :)  We got a good look at downtown Nashville, with it's impressive state government buildings, before returning to the conference for our afternoon sessions.
                    

                                     Jubilee Hall at Fisk

 

For my second session of the day, I attended, "Finding Your Ancestors in Unusual Places", presented by Leigh Ann Gardner.  This session was probably not the best choice, for me, because I didn't get any new information.  It was probably better targeted towards the more novice researcher.  However, I did learn that African-American benevolent societies often sued one another over things such as property rights (to cemeteries and such), and that the records of these suits can provide helpful genealogical information. So, wow... I guess I did actually learn one thing! I left this session (after the presentation) to do some networking.

This evening ended with a DELICIOUS southern barbeque buffet dinner!  I've been to lots of conferences in my day (not genealogical), but I've never had a meal like this at any of them!  We had ribs, pulled pork, freshly carved beef brisket, sweet potato casserole, collard greens, potatoes, potato salad, cole slaw, apple cobbler, and ice cream!  It was good!  After most of us had finished pigging out eating, we had the pleasure of listening to Mr. Muriel D. Roberts, who has started an oral history project called, "Slave Grandchildren Remember".  Mr. Roberts is interviewing people who knew, and remember, their formerly-enslaved grandparents.  We got to watch a 12 minute video snippet from one of his subjects, a Mr. Northern.  It was very well-done, and inspiring.  We were all encourage to make a similar effort to reach out to any of the elders in our area who might fit the criteria for this project.

After the dinner, I spent some time socializing and sharing.  Before retiring to my room, I perused the books in the "Free to Read" Book Fair, and chatted with some of the authors.  One, Michael Henderson, whom I'd talked with a bit on Thursday, really encouraged me to write, and publish the story of my gg-grandparents, Anna and Nathaniel, which has a few similarities to his own, which tells in his book, "Got Proof! My Genealogical Journey Through the Use of Documentation".  We'll see what happens!

Well, that's a wrap for the first two days of my first-ever genealogy conference.  The last couple of hours have been put into writing this post. :)  Now, it's off to bed to catch some zzzz's, so that I can get up and be ready for Day 3, tomorrow!  Stay tuned, and, as always, thanks for reading!



It's so great to be here with so many of my online friends!

                                                                         Renate

 

Genea-Family Friday - Meeting Shelley

Okay, maybe "Genea-Family Friday" isn't (or hasn't been) an actual meme, but for today, I'm making it one. :)

Although a small percentage of folks in our online genealogy community do get to meet and know each other personally, mostly by attending conferences and workshops, the majority are like me, who engage in building "friendships" online, through blogs, chats, and social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and/or GooglePlus.  So, for me, those rare occasions that allow me to actually meet one of my genea-friends are very special.  Yesterday was one such occasion, when I got to meet genealogist Shelley Murphy  while on a brief visit to my former hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia.



Shelley is very active in the African-American, as well as the larger genealogy community.  She puts out the Charlottesville Genealogy Examiner, is an active participant in the Afrigeneas community, and is belongs to more than one chapter of the African-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAGHS), holding the office of President in the Central Virginia Chapter.  Shelley is also active on Twitter, and Facebook, participates in Geneabloggers Radio shows, and is just generally supportive of other researchers, in every way. 

I have enjoyed getting to know Shelley online, and have long considered her a part of my "genea-family". Now, I can add her to the (short) list of folks from this wonderful community whom I've actually met, in person.  Though our visit was brief, I could tell that Shelley was just as kind, sweet, and supportive in "real life" as  she comes across online. :)  I'm glad we met!

Link to this post

Sentimental Sunday - Please join in!

I'm honored to announce that the theme, Sentimental Sunday, which I introduced back in November, is now being adopted by Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers as an "official" weekly blogging theme!  Although several folks have already been participating in Sentimental Sunday, I'm thrilled and excited that through Geneabloggers, over 800 bloggers, and even more readers will be encouraged to reflect on some of the their more memorable family moments and/or experiences as researchers. 

The idea of Sentimental Sunday was actually born out of the emotions I experienced after reading the posts of two of my genea-friends, and realizing how very powerful a vehicle these blogs can be.  Through our writings, we often connect with each other - total strangers, in most cases - in ways that can be difficult to express to our own family members and friends, who may not be engaged or involved in the work of genealogy research.  We hail from a variety of cultural, racial, economical, and professional backgrounds; some from well-established, completely-connected families, and others from tribes of folk who don't even know each other exists.  But our common factor is the work that we do to discover the history of our respective families, and to create a bridge that links that history to our present-day life, and leaves a gift of knowledge for generations to come.

In that light, I hope that as many members of the Genea-bloggers community as possible will join in and participate often in Sentimental Sunday.  Any memory or story you might tell that pulls on your own heart-strings and might inspire the emotions of others, should qualify.  Whether it's a memorable family moment, a tribute to an ancestor or family member, or even a recollection of something touching that occured here in the blogosphere, I hope you'll share it with us all on Sentimental Sunday!

Renate

Click here to read my very first Sentimental Sunday post, which inspired all of this. :)