Follow Friday - Pinterest

Have you considered the power of Pinterest?

I am totally addicted to the web site! I get on it, and will sometimes spend one, two, or even three hours and not even realize I've been there that long! It's much more addicting than Facebook, or games! My poor iPhone stays in my hand and I am there!

But, did you know that many genealogy bloggers are on Pinterest? I had been using Pinterest for quite some time, filling up my little Boards, until one day I accidentally came across a genealogy site! I am in seventh heaven my friends! Literally!

Ok, so I am wherever the genealogy leads me. I hope you know that about me by now! (How many years have we been together on this blog?) So, you can imagine my absolute delight when I found these genealogy bloggers on Pinterest! And suddenly, I cannot get enough genealogy! (If I could make an income with genealogy to match what I currently make working for a major insurance company, honey, I would be doing that full time! It's my passion!)

But on Pinterest, I can find, not only some great ideas about research, and writing, and digital photography, and saving those photographs, and census records, and forms to help me get everything organized, and great organization tips, but there's more! Did you know you can search for you the surname you're researching? Some families have linked their family trees to Pinterest! How awesome is that! Best of all, it's another FREE site to go looking for clues!

I use all kinds of resources as I'm researching. Both traditional, from brick and mortar institutions, to books, and web sites. But one thing I won't do, is take any one else's family tree and tack it onto mine. Nope. I've got to do the research and prove it first. (Only, I actually do the polar opposite! I try to disprove the connection first. Once I can't disprove it, THEN I attempt to find proof that it fits.) Remember, just because someone says that So and So is related to you, doesn't mean it's the truth! Find the proof out there, and document, document, document! Write down those sources, and citations!

But, I digress! Back to Pinterest! I absolutely love the site. It's given me some help in my family research. But what it's really given me are ideas. I use the site as a kind of sounding board. It helps to have a background in research, but if you will open your mind, and simply let ideas play one off of another, you'd be surprised to find out just how far you can go!

And that's where Pinterest really shines! You type in what you're searching for, and BAM! One has only to start looking through the thousands of pins that will come up from your search, and before you know it....2, 3, or even 4 hours have flown by!

Some tips on using this site? Keep a notepad handy! You'll want to take notes. And believe me, if you see something you want to read more in depth on, do it right then, because you won't remember how to navigate back to it! And don't think, "I'll just pin that and it will be on my board and I can come back to it later! Cause, darling, later you won't be able to find it in all of the pins you save! So, when you see something you want to read, do it right then!

I use my notepad for a jumping off point. I can always get back to an article I've pinned, because I mark down the date I've saved it. Sometimes, however, by making notes when I read the article I've pinned, I have enough info that I don't need to reference back to it.

So, I am here today to officially encourage you to head on over to Pinterest, and find you some fun! Just about anything under the sun can be found there! It's like an open air market. Just start browsing honey. You'll never walk away empty handed!

Have a great time!