Thomas MacEntee's proposal of a Genealogy Do-Over starting 2 January 2015 and continuing for 13 weeks is one which has captured the imagination of nearly 1,000 people (probably more since writing). I am one of those 1,000. I relish the idea of doing a virtual reset on my research. I'm tired of sitting dully in front of my monitor and wondering which ancestor to pick (again), only to find out that he/she is the brickwall I looked at last time. I want to make sure my methodology is sure, but most of all I want to get my motivation back.
And then I looked at this blog. I remember, when I started it back in 2010, how excited I was. My first post was:
"This blog is intended to be an extension to my ancestor-spotting records at home of names, dates and places. It is going to be the place where I put my family history. Anecdotes, snippets of information, quotes, pictures - and even some chapters of book(s) I am writing on the surnames that appear in my family tree."
And, at first, I loved this blog. It made me reduce my scattergun approach, since I was writing about one ancestor at a time. It revived personal memories of parents and grandparents that I thought I had forgotten. There was the joy of exploration as I delved into daily and weekly memes, like Sorting Saturday, Maritime Monday and Way Back Wednesday. I loved Challenges such as Fearless Females, the A-Z Challenge, and the Family History Writing Challenge. In fact, it gave my genealogical research a 'reset', something like Thomas MacEntee is suggesting.
But soon I came to realise that, despite the courageous goals of my first post, I didn't have many anecdotes. I didn't have many pictures to share. And slowly the appeal of having a genealogy blog lessened until the gaps between posts could be measured in weeks rather than days. I felt I couldn't give up because of all my followers, the thousands of views of my blog, and the few special friends I have made through blogging (you know who you are). I still love this blog, but the excitement has dimmed somewhat.
So this Do-Over is going to give me 13 weeks of serious contemplation about what I want for this blog. What is its future? Does it even have a future? (There. I've said it.)
Please let me know what you think. I need input on this one.
And then I looked at this blog. I remember, when I started it back in 2010, how excited I was. My first post was:
"This blog is intended to be an extension to my ancestor-spotting records at home of names, dates and places. It is going to be the place where I put my family history. Anecdotes, snippets of information, quotes, pictures - and even some chapters of book(s) I am writing on the surnames that appear in my family tree."
And, at first, I loved this blog. It made me reduce my scattergun approach, since I was writing about one ancestor at a time. It revived personal memories of parents and grandparents that I thought I had forgotten. There was the joy of exploration as I delved into daily and weekly memes, like Sorting Saturday, Maritime Monday and Way Back Wednesday. I loved Challenges such as Fearless Females, the A-Z Challenge, and the Family History Writing Challenge. In fact, it gave my genealogical research a 'reset', something like Thomas MacEntee is suggesting.
But soon I came to realise that, despite the courageous goals of my first post, I didn't have many anecdotes. I didn't have many pictures to share. And slowly the appeal of having a genealogy blog lessened until the gaps between posts could be measured in weeks rather than days. I felt I couldn't give up because of all my followers, the thousands of views of my blog, and the few special friends I have made through blogging (you know who you are). I still love this blog, but the excitement has dimmed somewhat.So this Do-Over is going to give me 13 weeks of serious contemplation about what I want for this blog. What is its future? Does it even have a future? (There. I've said it.)
Please let me know what you think. I need input on this one.
Family History blogging ALWAYS has a future
ReplyDeleteYay!
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I also am planning a blog do-over and evaluation, http://findyourfolks.blogspot.com/. I have been blogging since 2008.
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to have an evaluation. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteLuckily there's no rules about how often to blog, nor on what to blog!! Once a day? Once a week? Once a month? They're all good decisions. And you could decide to post only little snippets. Or long complicated analyses. Or one document with all the things you have learned about it. It sounds as if the passion of connecting with others is an important part of blogging - how could you maximize that interactivity?? Hmmm. I'll look forward to your re-do!! I have two blogs I've been posting in (different purposes), and I think I'm good for another few years before I need to re-think blogging. (mine are Twigs and Trees, and Terwilliger Souvenir Album). Cheers from Canada.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I need to stop beating myself up about "not having posted every day" and sternly tell myself that I chose once-a-week, and there's nothing wrong with that. A re-do does sound exciting, doesn't it?
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I hear ya Ros! I feel that way too from time to time. I'm going to use the Genealogy Do-Over as a time of resetting EVERYTHING genealogy....including my blog. So don't give up. Do-Over your blog with what makes YOU happy...in the end that's what counts :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Denise. I am looking forward to resetting everything genealogy, too. I have a One Name Study and a One Place Study as well, and everything (including me) will benefit from a Do-Over.
DeleteThanks for stopping by.
It would be a shame to not have a blog like yours here. I think one can write about family anecdotes in so many ways but we may think that people will find it boring or we may not want to share certain details. I hope you will continue on and talk about events even in your own history. I think of the Christmas traditions, foods, outfits, etc... in my family history, there were farmers, barrel makers. Why were they so important back then? Why was every other name starting with Gott? (As in Gottlob, Gotfried, Gotlieb...). When one looks at the names even, why were they popular? You could teach us allot
ReplyDeleteThank you, Birgit, for your kind words. I was very humbled that you feel I could teach you a lot. You have given me some much-needed motivation. Thank you again.
DeleteHello John, and thanks for stopping by. I don't know either how people read that many blogs per day (!). I like the fact that you say the methodology interests you more than 'concentrating on people'. It's rather like holiday snaps/slides, isn't it - they are absolutely fascinating to *you*, but when others see the same patch of blue sea for the nth time, not so fascinating to them, I fear...*grin*
ReplyDeleteIt's not good when you feel like this - amongst other things, blogging should be fun! If you still enjoy blogging, but are finding the topic a bit stale why not try a few posts on something different, see how it goes down with your regular readers.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
www.myrandommusings.blogspot.com