The Magic of Internet Message Boards by Paul Duxbury and
Kevin Cook
The increasing popularity of the internet
has offered many new chances for people to exchange information from all
over the world. Message boards are one way this information is exchanged in
everything from sports to medicine. However, it can also be a way you can
increase your genealogy research.
Genealogy Message Boards allow you to
communicate freely with people from all over in a public forum so that you
can have the maximum number of people possible looking at the information
you are requesting. This is a great way for you to be able to make contact
with others that are interested in genealogy like you.
First of all, if you are going to post on a message board for any reason you
should understand the consequences of what you post. Remember that
information on a message board, no matter what kind, is essentially public.
What you print there can be read by anyone and can be quoted then to anyone.
So make sure that everything you write in any message you are going to post
only has information in it that you are comfortable having anyone read or
share with anyone else. In addition, keep in mind that with most message
boards, the post is permanent once you hit the submit button. So you want to
make sure you have no embarrassing typos or information you think you might
regret. It is always going and worth your while to add that extra few
minutes so you can review the message before you hit submit.
So once you know you want to post to a genealogy message board for
information exchange, you need to make sure your posts are effective. It is
important not to make your posts long and bogged down with a ton of
information. When it comes to a message board post, more is less and less is
more. Make sure what your post is detailed and concise rather than rambling
and general. With a more specific and concise message you are more likely to
get specific and helpful responses from others. If you are general with your
post you will either get no responses or a ton of responses that may or may
not have anything to do with the information you are after. If you are
looking for a specific family member in your post, make sure you put in full
names, birth dates, marriage dates, and death dates. Put down specific
locations that you may have and even the names of parents or children. The
more of this you have, the more likely you are to get actual meaningful
information.
It may seem either obvious or silly, but good grammar and spelling are going
to be important. People are much more likely to respond to a post that seems
to have been put up by someone who is serious. In addition, if you use good
grammar and punctuation, you are less likely to be misunderstood. You always
want information to be precise and that is just one way to make sure that
your information is indeed clear. Also, check for typos before you hit
submit. Again, a typo, a misplaced comma, or just bad spelling can cause a
real problem with your post if you are not careful. So just take a little
extra time to make sure you are saying what you want to say.
Lastly, make sure you always write how you would want to be written to,
which is sort of the golden rule of message boards no matter what the topic
is. Make sure you always check your post regularly for replies. If someone
does reply to you, acknowledge them in a timely fashion. If you don't have
time to write back in detail right away at least drop them an email "thank
you" to acknowledge receipt of their information. Courtesy is generally
appreciated very much in any message board environment.
If you enjoy genealogy, then you probably already know that the internet is
an invaluable resource. However, you can also use the internet to get in
touch with people who may be sources for you as well. A good genealogy
message board is a great way to get in touch with people that may be able to
help you find information you are missing or to simply form a support
system. Just make sure you are courteous and concise with your information
and polite to your fellow message board members so that you will have a
positive experience with genealogical message boards.
About the Authors
Paul Duxbury and Kevin Cook own http://www.amateur-genealogist.com and
http://www.our-family-trees.co.uk two of the leading Genealogy Websites. In
addition Paul owns a wide range of exciting websites which can be viewed at
http://www.our-family-trees.co.uk
Article Source:
http://www.searchwhateveraustralia.com.au/articles.html