Social media Tips/Advice

I am not always organized and efficient. Some of my searches are re-searches. Occasionally, I will find that I've asked myself the same questions for several years and never found the answers.  Many times I'll ask other people for "New Eyes" on a project so that I can get some clarity for myself. People see things in many different ways and having a fresh look is often quite helpful. However, that leads to a lot of frustration on social media sites for both the person asking the questions and the person trying to answer them. Here are some helpful tips and advice for both the person considering posting for a request and the person about to read and help someone asking for the questions. 

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For those of you who may be considering asking for help, here are some things that I think are a must if you are posting on social media sites such as a Facebook group dedicated to researching a specific area or topic. 
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• Post only the facts. Don't draw out a really long story about how your grandparents met, what they thought of each other or how much your family loved them.  People on facebook like instant access and instant gratification. The sheer size of a request will make people leave and not look back.
• What are the facts? Names, Dates, Places. Don't go into detail. Just say you are looking for - Person born on this date in this place. 
• With that said -- what do you want to know? BE SPECIFIC and ask ONLY one question at a time.  I want to know where John Smith (husband of Claire Johnson Smith) born 3 Dec 1901 in Nebraska was in the 1920 census. They may ask clarifying questions to narrow down the person. That's great and shows some thought. If they do not ask clarifying questions and repeatedly post things that are NOT related to your people, then My suggestion is to disregard their info totally and look for people who are taking the time to make sure they don't waste their own time and yours by senseless searches and irrelevant answers.
• Give a brief list of what you already have - I already know: Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Parents, Siblings, Marriages, Deaths, 1910, 1930, 1940 census.... Key here is keeping it informative yet brief. Brief.... 
• EMPHASIS on the word  - "I am wanting to find the 1920 census ONLY, nothing else, please". .... Sincerely, It's not yelling.  And for those of you reading who are helping... please for the love of all things holy, listen to their requests and stop over-sharing. 

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NOW --- for those of you who just posted that question, keep in mind people are not really reading these requests and comprehending. They want to be helpful but in order to be helpful, they're trying to catch up with what you already know.  So... if you already have a good deal of information, you're going to get quite a few messages like : Here is the 1910 census, his obituary, the 1930 census, here is the marriage, all their children....... but not the one thing you asked for. It's frustrating for sure. Trust me, I get really bothered by it. Over-sharing is not caring. It's annoying. 

For those of you who want to help people: 

• SLOW DOWN! Read the entire post and comprehend what that person is specifically looking for. Stop overwhelming people with information they may already have. If they want ONE thing, then give them only that one thing. If you think they don't have other information, please ask before posting it. "Do you already have the 1910, 1930 and 1940 census?"  Then WAIT for a response. You know, that may be the hardest part is the wait. That instant gratification that social media gives us is addictive. But Genealogy isn't going anywhere, take it slower and please slow down a bit. 
• Don't offer to do their entire research project for them. While that's awesome, why not try teaching them how to find their own information so they stop asking those questions from others and start helping themselves?  You could start by saying how much you enjoy helping and here is the information you asked for, that you found it at such-n-such website, by typing in the following search terms and deciding which item is the correct one using the information you were provided. If they don't have access to a paid site you used, help them understand the multiple options for finding said information (like census records, which are free in many places)  Now that you said where and how you found it, you've not only supplied the information but perhaps you taught 15 newbies how to find it themselves and those 15 people will not ask that same question. (At least for the next five minutes or so). 

In Summary - Ask efficient questions and give effective answers. Stop and comprehend the questions asked and reply to questions with specific solutions.  Social media is a difficult (while overly simplied) place to convey information. It can be a wonderful resource to utilize in genealogy research. However, it's also very frustrating to answer the same question a thousand times simply because someone is not reading the Original Post (OP) fully and they aren't taking the time to verify what is actually needed. 

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