Social networks are part of the new generation of Web applications and they are starting to reach their adolescence.  In their infancy, like all tech stuff, social networks were either disregarded by “mainstream” users or disrespected by avant-garde developers as not serious.  But now, it seems that nearly everyone is finding use for social networks.  And that’s what happens to make an application eventually a mature part of technology.

In genealogy, it was first necessary for genealogy itself to reach a new level of acceptance at large before social networking could be of any use.   We probably passed that point long ago.  In some respects,  collaboration of the sort needed and desired in genealogy has helped fuel the growth of even non-genealogical social networks.

Recently, the number of genealogists and family history researchers on Facebook has increased tremendously.  There were genealogists on Facebook before this past spring; however, Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak’s recognition that Facebook might provide a good platform for the Unclaimed Persons project triggered the mass migration of genealogy-types to Facebook.

In a multi-part series, we’ll review the leading social network sites on the Web today and discuss their efficacy for genealogy.  That includes some genealogy-specific sites and some general  interest sites.  We’ll examine the pitfalls and the things one ought to know before signing onto specific social networks.  We start with the genealogy-specific social networks.

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