Lynn Dosch expresses it beautifully. Thank you Lynn for a calm, reasoned message. It doesn't have to be one or the other. If you are uncomfortable with Facebook, fine. Don't use it. Let's end the repetitive discussion and get back to genealogy. No one will say it better than Lynn did. Jen Today's Topics: 1. Re: BADEN-WURTTEMBERG Digest, Vol 8, Issue 176 (Lynn Dosch) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 2 Nov 2013 22:58:49 -0500 From: Lynn Dosch <lynndosch@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [BW] BADEN-WURTTEMBERG Digest, Vol 8, Issue 176 To: baden-wurttemberg@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <CAGNtoKr137ULZx93+appQGx6JcusiNfwD05qEXTZhFR4bJB1aQ@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Different strokes for different folks. I belong to several Facebook genealogy groups and find them useful, as secure as rootsweb and very interactive. Many of the negative comments here reflect conventional wisdom about Facebook and not necessarily how it actually works -- especially using private groups rather than simple pages. Facebook allows posting of photos and files and allows members to collaborate on documents, features I find very useful. I didn't interpret the original poster as suggesting splintering this group, but as suggesting that there are also Facebook groups available for help with our Baden research. There are more Baden research groups than just this rootsweb group. I'm guessing there are many who are members of both, but there are also others who likely are only members of one or the other style of research support group. Your research style might make you prefer one type over another. You can easily search past posts in Facebook; groups have moderators who can set privacy levels. Most groups I belong to require permission from the moderator to join. Facebook posts from group members do not show up on my wall unless I am friends with the poster, so almost none of my group posts show on my wall. Likewise, your friends don't see any of the group conversations you participate in - these are typically private conversations. And group posts don't clutter up my email the way these mail list groups do (even though i use a digest form for mail lists I belong to) Facebook groups and roots web groups are only as good as their moderators. While rootsweb groups are genealogy oriented, I find the groups I've had experience with don't have any special tools that make them any more useful than the Facebook groups I belong to. Many are woefully out of date and no longer being maintained. Facebook groups depend on their member interaction to continue conversations and research leads, so similar things can happen to these groups. I will continue to use both rootsweb groups and Facebook groups as they both provide me with important information for my genealogy research. Each person should use what they are comfortable with and what they find most useful. If you've tried Facebook groups and found them lacking, then don't use them. If you haven't tried them, do your own research on Facebook -it's more than a generic social media app, it's also a good networking tool. Ask your genealogy friends for their opinions, read the terms of use and decide whether you feel comfortable using the environment.