Tag Archives: Facebook

Facebook Comments and Family Stories

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I don’t automatically send my blog posts to Facebook, but more people in my family are likely to read my Facebook status than read my blog. So if I want certain cousins to know I’ve posted about a common ancestor or relative or if I’m hoping they will chime in with more information, I link the blog post on my Facebook page. And sometimes it does get a conversation going.

Last week, I linked my blog post The Civil Rights Summit and a Family Story? to my Facebook page and tagged cousins whom I hoped would read it and maybe even add more to the story I’m trying to research. I know at least one cousin came here and read the post because she left a comment. I’m not sure about the others, but the photograph thumbnail that showed on Facebook did spark some conversation.

Here’s the picture…
Webber.Fred and KathyAnd here’s the conversation:

Sue: I love seeing this picture of you and Fred. And the picture on the wall of Dorinda and the other picture, mostly out of sight, of Wilda.
Kathy: Like being back in the house on H Street…
Bea: Love Daddy’s bow tie!
Yvonne: All of the above and the cage with “Pretty Bird” !!!
Yvonne: Kathy, was this 1954?
Kathy: I have a few other pictures taken that day and none are dated. Must be early 1954. Mid Oct. birthday + still wearing hat and sweater.
Yvonne: Of course, in Iowa you might need that hat and sweater in May! I too was figuring from your birthday.
Kathy: True! Especially this year! I’m guessing I was maybe 5 months old?
Yvonne: And I was just turning 11 and was always excited about relatives coming from out of town.
Wilda: This is off topic, but I love this photo for more reasons than one (or two). I see Dorinda Rupe as a child (my photo got cut off) but also the bird. I had forgotten about the bird. Was it Zam’s or Aunt Lottie’s? I sort of think it came at the same time as Pedro, and Pedro was, I believe, Aunt Lottie’s dog. I’m trying to remember the name of the canary. I have a name in my head for it, but am not confident I’m right.
Yvonne: I love it for many reasons, too, Wilda. Read through the preceding messages. I think the bird was Grammy’s and that she called it “Pretty Bird.”
Wilda: I think you are right – “Pretty Bird.”

In the course of this little Facebook conversation, we set an approximate date for the photograph, identified pictures of people on the wall in the background, confirmed the location of the picture, identified the name and species of the bird that lived in the cage, confirmed Yvonne’s age and feelings, and identified the name of a dog that lived at the house at the time and the possible owner.
This is not the first time that a picture or post has yielded family stories. And I may never find those comments on Facebook again. Have you ever tried to find an old post on Facebook? It ain’t easy!
So this time I came up with a plan to save this information. I copied it from Facebook and added it to the comments on the linked blog post, using first names only.
What do you think of this as a way to preserve the information?
Should I add tags to the post that reflect the information in the comments so I can find it easily when I want it?
What about conversations sparked by a photo on Facebook when there is no linked blog post?
Do you save family stories from Facebook posts and comments? What is your preferred method?

 

*** The formatting changed somehow in the middle of this post and I can’t get any paragraphs/spaces where I want them in the last half.  And yet I was granted spaces here? Annoying!