The Magic Of Internet Message Boards
December 1st, 2008

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. They 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

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