Five years ago Jollett Etc was born. At the time, the
only blogs I knew about were ones showing me how to create exciting
tablescapes, prepare meals that would delight my family, and upcycle old
windows into coffee tables. Pinterest was just a baby tempting me with nifty
ideas for creating art from paint chip samples. I was not sure how genealogy
fit in that world.
Then I found Geneabloggers, and I realized there were
lots of family historians like me trying to share our research. In five years,
I have seen lots of blogs come and go, lots of bloggers come and go, and lots
of changes to genealogy blogging as a whole.
5 years ago
Family history bloggers who were held up as models of
excellence were writing STORIES of their ancestors.
Today
Bloggers who receive recognition are the ones telling the
rest of us how to do it – how to write a story, how to write titles, how to
attract readers, how to research, how to network, how to promote our blogs, how
to organize our research, how to organize our blog, how to measure success. (I
still prefer the story tellers.)
5 years ago
Family historians looked for documents and interesting
resources to fill in their ancestor’s life story. They eagerly shared those
findings.
Today
There is much more emphasis on citations – PROPER citations
– for those sources. (You have to be thick-skinned to keep from feeling like a
lowlife researcher for recording simply “1880 Virginia Federal Census.”)
5 years ago
Family history meant finding those ancestors and looking
for deeds, wills and other documents to tell THEIR story.
Today
We are encouraged to tell OUR OWN story too because one
day we will be someone’s ancestor. Someone will be interested in our baby
picture, wedding photo, and stories of our glory days in school. (Done! Well,
to some extent anyway.)
5 years ago
I was not aware of opportunities to improve my research
skills.
Today
There is always a free webinar online even if I cannot
get to a state or national conference and collect blogger beads. (I am not
looking to be a certified genealogist, but I attend webinars if the topic is
interesting. While I don’t always heed
the advice of how-to articles – in fact, sometimes I just give ‘em the eyeball
roll – I would have appreciated the help five years ago, so I am confident
their service is appreciated by new bloggers.)
5 years ago
Family history bloggers measured success by the number of
comments on their blog.
Today
Those predicting the future of blogging say that comments
are a thing of the past. “Real” bloggers are moving the conversation to social
media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. (Maybe I’m just “old school,” but I
prefer seeing comments on my blog. Unless Blogger goes the way of Geocities, my
blog with its comments will be there for years to come whereas tweets and “Likes”
will disappear with the next scroll.)
5 years ago
Networking for genealogy blogs was mainly through
Geneabloggers. I found other blogs by participating in the daily prompts that
worked much like a blog hop. We came to expect a return visit if we left a
comment on someone’s blog.
Today
Geneabloggers is alive and
well, and there are memes like 52 Ancestors and The Book of Me that pull family
historians together. Nevertheless, networking
is largely dependent on outlets like Facebook,Twitter, and even Pinterest. In addition to their
personal Facebook accounts, many bloggers create a page for their blog or a closed group
for the family line. (I have mixed feelings about the shift from blogging to
Facebook. I understand why many bloggers give up the blog. Writing stories is
hard. Keeping to any sort of schedule is hard – and harder still if you listen
to the ones saying a definite schedule is a MUST. I understand the frustration
and disappointment when family and yet-unknown cousins do not read the blog. So
yes, posting photos and latest findings to a Facebook group dedicated to a
particular family or geographical region is a heckuva lot easier and still
accomplishes the goal of sharing research. Besides, for some people – and it’s
not necessarily a generational thing – blogs are just a foreign concept while
Facebook is mainstream.)
5 years ago
Blogging was pure and sweet and fairly simple once you
mastered your chosen platform, Blogger and Wordpress being the top 2 choices.
Today
Our blogs are subject to the worst of human behavior.
Spam has led to comment moderation. Copyright violations are a constant worry. It
is not merely about being careful with images; we have to watch out for
unscrupulous parties copying our content and posting to other websites. Bloggers
are obsessed with checking their stats to see where visitors are coming from
and then trying to understand what those numbers mean and how their blog will
be affected. (Probably because my blog is story-driven and thus appeals to a
limited audience, Jollett Etc has not been deemed worthy of stealing. Furthermore,
I have not been bothered by hordes of Russian visitors. Maybe I should be
insulted.)
Whatever the future of blogging may be, I am in it for
the long haul. Happy Blogiversary, Jollett Etc!
Wendy
© 2016, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.
Congrats on 5 years of telling your family stories. I may not always comment but I like your stories. Looking forward to your next 5 years.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to say that I liked blogging better 5 years ago.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to your blog!
It sounds like genealogy blogging was even more when you started, Wendy. I’m ‘old school’ too, even if I was late joining the party :-) Well done on 5 great years. Keep telling the STORIES!
ReplyDeleteWendy, congratulations of your five year blogiversary! You have made great points here about the changes since you began blogging. I sometimes feel like I am being left behind because I am not reaching out to other places to promote my blog. I have tried using Facebook but it is a poor attempt on my part to reach more cousins. I prefer my blog. I do enjoy my blogging buddies, like you who share their thoughts, ideas and encouragement. I hope your next five years are even more fun than your first five with lots of new discoveries. Celebrate your marvelous accomplishment!
ReplyDeleteHi, Colleen, like you I was reluctant to use social media to promote my blog, not being a fan of Facebook and Twitter. But in the past year, I joined the new We Are Genealogy Bloggers on Facebook and have found it very supportive. So I set up my blog on Facebook and my impression is that it has boosted my page views, plus it is easy to post to it from my published post. But I would never see it replacing my actual blog where comments mean a lot to me. I also set up a general Pinterest site, with a Family History Board. I can't say I have seen any results from that in terms of impact on my blog.
DeleteScotSue, thanks for mentioning that. Nice to know about that resource, and your experience with it. I wanted to add that, as poor a participant on Pinterest as I am, I have noticed on my blog stats that I get a decent trickle of traffic from the few things I've posted on Pinterest, so it does generate interest. Mostly, I find the reactions are best to photos of items of historic as well as genealogical interest. But the results may lag by months, or even years. It will be interesting to see what others' experiences are with this, over the long haul.
DeleteHappy blogiversary, Wendy! And I agree with your comments on the "evolution" of blogging. I'm looking forward to reading the stories you're going to tell as you blog and blog and blog. And blog!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Wendy, on five years of blogging and on a personal, the help you have given me. Your post also reminded me I missed my own blog anniversary on August 21st. I never ever thought I would be still going six years later, thanks largely to a great boost from discovering third cousins who provided me with new stories and photographs plus the support of the geneablogging community.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on 5 years! Interesting to read the changes over the years with bkogging. Wishing you many more years.
ReplyDeleteBetty
Wendy, Congratulations on your 5th blogiversary. Your "reflections" are right on target and I enjoy your stories.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your 5 years of blogging! One of the things I miss the most about the olden days of blogging is the way we used to visit back the blogs of those who commented. some of us still do, but many don't. And I agree that comments and likes on fb will never replace comments right on the blog.
ReplyDeleteIsn’t this something we often say on Sepia Saturday? Return visits are good etiquette.
DeleteCongratulations, Wendy! While I only started my genealogy blog about 2 1/2 years ago, I started a homeschool blog more than 10 years ago. I'm finding it difficult to try to "promote" my blog on Facebook or other social media. While I've had some success using Facebook as a research tool, I don't want to have to get overly involved in social media which would eat up more and more of my time. I see you have some items on your page that I need to learn more about. :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, congrats! And, keep on posting!
Congratulations on your 5 year anniversary. Your posts are always interesting and your research is thorough. I don't know your family but I love hearing about them!
ReplyDeleteHappy FIVE! It's a very wonderful feeling isn't it?!
ReplyDeleteDespite running the risk of being labeled one of those "lowlife researchers," I still prefer the stories, too, Wendy! Story is what makes the difference, captures the attention, and gently escorts the reader to the main point of your statement--whether it's a blog post, a statistical diatribe or even a ride at an amusement park. (Ever wonder why Disney succeeds while other amusement parks end up changing hands or just plain going defunct?)
ReplyDeleteKeep those eyeballs rolling, Wendy, and hold fast that confidence that Jollett Etc. is delivering what your readers appreciate!
Happy blogiversary!
I like your description, Jacqui, of "low life researchers" and think I come under that category. I always remember the advice of the archivist at my local archive centre - "family history is all about discovering the stories about your ancestors" - perhaps that is why my father's family remain rather shadowy. I have never managed to get past the basic BMD/census returns information, and have very few photographs to stimulate interest. So they do not feature much on my blog.
DeleteOur blogs are just about the same age and I agree with nearly everything you've said. While I blog for ME (and one day, hopefully, my ancestors) the minute it isn't fun I'll stop. I don't particularly care about being a "lowlife" researcher, I just want to be able to go back to where I found the information in the first place. I do so many things that would make the pros roll their eyes, I'm sure, but it works for me.
ReplyDeleteWhile I love comments on Facebook, I also feel that those can be separated from the blog. I feel like those on my blog are there forever (or at least longer than on Facebook). I have not ventured onto Twitter and Pinterest yet but maybe someday I will.
Congratulations on 5 years!
Congratulations Wendy and here’s to many more years of blogging!
ReplyDeleteHappy belated Blogiversary and congratulations! A very thoughtful and thought provoking post. I'm looking forward to many more stories!
ReplyDeleteI'm so far behind reading blogs, Wendy. I'm sorry I missed your anniversary but I want to wish you at least another five years of blogging. You have a great blog.
ReplyDeleteMy blog is just a few years older than yours (My Ancestors and Me began on August 1, 2009, so 7 years ago). I notice that things were similar 5 and 7 years ago. I liked it better then than now, but then I'm always wishing to jump back in time!
One of the things I really liked then was that blog visitors who left comments were nearly always guaranteed a return visit with a comment. It was common courtesy then, but not so now.
I also liked the lack of citations on blogs. When sources aren't cited I think it is an invitation to others researching the same individual or line to contact the blogger and interact. When sources are cited in blog posts, a visitor has everything he or she needs so why leave a comment or sent an email to the blogger. Just take the information and go.
Again, Happy Anniversary, and here's to many more years of your wonderful blog!
Happy 5th Wendy! So glad to have "met" through the blogger world. I love your witty insightful comments and stories and seeing your seemingly never ending supply of photos.
DeleteI agree that the world of blogging has changed so much these past few years. When I began I was fairly naive about the possibilities and the potential reach of blogs. I too prefer to focus on our ancestor's stories.