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Push & Pull of Platforms: Storytelling in blogs, newsletters & websites

This special event was a conversation with two genealogy bloggers who've captured their stories online for years. Recently, they've both been exploring Substack which raises a series of questions.

Today’s program was new for us with a conversational format and topic focused on platforms.

Conversation Among Members

Today, we’re including two Projectkin members talking about their experiences using multiple platforms to share their stories:

Platforms:

This is also a new topic area for us that I expect to expand on, perhaps making it an ongoing series focused on the platforms we use for our family history.

Family history is a team sport. Since the dawn of the web, families have used website-building and blogging tools to share their research. These tools create a web property that researchers can access and create a community of fellow travelers interested in the same family lines.

Web tools, however, are constantly changing. New platforms are launched daily, and old ones lose funding.

Incidental innovations developed in other markets can be a boon to family historians who are looking for each other and shared resources. Hashtags, blogging, and hosted videos are key functions that began as innovations on top of existing platforms. Substack fits into this category and is starting to impact the way we capture and share our stories.

Today’s program focused primarily on the features and functionalities our speakers sought in adding Substack to an existing blogging practice. As you’ll see in the recording and transcript, we covered a range of related topics including:

  • Engagement: Why it matters and how to encourage it

  • Best practices for combining an existing WordPress site with the engagement of Substack (some mention was made of

    ’ clever blend of his stack with his site at Chiddicksfamilytree.com.)

  • How to blend in social platforms to reach the people you’re targeting

  • How to manage that outreach so it doesn’t feel self-promoting or “icky”2

  • Finding best practices for blending platforms for archival and outreach

  • Finding ways to archive your posts with third parties such as Trove Web Archive or the WayBack Machine at the Internet Archive.

  • Best practices for finding and documenting beneficiaries to your genealogical work in online as well as offline forms.

This leads me to conclude that this is a rich topic for our members to explore in these kinds of programs. If you have some feedback for me or are interested in participating in a future conversation, please email or message me or leave a comment below.

Projectkin is a community of family historians who are hooked on stories. We explore genealogical records, local history, and family stories. By sharing and innovating with new projects, we inspire each other, make discoveries, and celebrate our connection to history.

If you know others who might be interested in joining us, please share this and any of our posts. Our programs and membership are free. Learn more about Projectkin here

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1

The notion of a One-Place Study is relatively new to those of us outside of Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. Projectkin had the opportunity to participate last fall with the Society for One Place Studies, the British Association for Local History, and the UK-Based Society of Genealogists in the 10-day series, All About That Place. You can explore our “Pacific Edition” contributions here.

Based on the interest, we’re introducing a pair of educational programs in March and April featuring Janet Barrie, Chair of the Society for One-Place Studies. I hope you can join us for those programs as well. During that series, the platform WeAre.xyz was mentioned a few times here as an introduction and its extension for One-Place Studies (OPS). 

2

That’s probably my interpretation. I’d love your thoughts in the comments.

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Specials
These are special, members-only events that cover topics of interest to family historians hooked on stories. To learn more about coming events, see Projectkin.org/events, and join our newsletter to be the first to know what's coming!