Back in the day – when you walked to school in 5 feet of snow, uphill (both ways), genealogy was researched on site, using such tools as a microfiche reader, microfilm reader, or just plan old books.

I was able to recently get together briefly with a cousin.  People asked me how we met/found each other as he is my 4th cousin.  We met through his aunt.  I had sent a query to a Welsh newspaper (in the US), stating that my 2nd great-grandfather was David Lloyd and that I was beginning to research the family.  I continued with all the information that I knew to date.

Now the waiting began.  I had no idea IF OR WHEN my query would even be added to the newspaper.  I waited.  The next edition – nothing.  I then saw it in the edition after that. Yay!  Now more waiting.  Will anyone even care about my David Lloyd?

Months went by…

I received a letter in the mail, several handwritten pages long, stating that this woman believed we were related – her grandfather was David Lloyd’s older brother, or so it seemed. After reading through her letter and calling her on the phone – BINGO!  We were able to connect and make a direct hit.

THANK GOD THAT PROCESS IS OVER!!!!

While I am a proponent of writing things down and I cherish handwritten letters, when it comes to connecting and waiting, I’m out.  I get energized from the almost instant gratification of posting something to social media and getting a response of some kind – before my next birthday!

ARE YOU USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO FIND FAMILY (BOTH LIVING AND ANCESTORS)?

There are Facebook genealogy groups, Pinterest Genealogy Boards, Genealogical and Historical societies websites, Instagram, etc.

What are you using to be connected?  What are some of your successes?  I will be following up this post with another on how I utilize some of these sites to aid my research.

I look forward to hearing how others are using these tools!