A Twitter Story

So I signed up to Twitter a few weeks back (initially as a way to follow various alumni and fellow fans of Joss Whedon's various TV shows, I wasn't actually intending to be posting anything myself). Turns out there are quite a few genealogists out and about on Twitter, but I still wasn't convinced of Twitter's potential usefulness as a genealogical tool. So the universe sent me this.....

@familytreewritr retweeted (ie reposted) a message from @MysticalNZ asking about Chinese genealogy. Obviously this isn't an area I have any interest in or knowledge of but their twitter name suggested they might also be from NZ. Out of curiosity I clicked on the name and read through her recent postings. It turned out that she has JONES ancestors in Monmouthshire, as do I (and as do probably most people with ancestors in Monmouthshire!), so I sent her a quick message to say hi.

Next thing I know, she's checked my profile, looked at my website - and it turns out she also has some ancestors who passed through Wing! The STOTT family's brief stay is only recorded for posterity by a couple of baptism entries in the 1850s, but I was blown away by the sheer randomness of it all.

Twitter has its downsides (already had my fill of internet marketing types, for one) but you might just find it interesting, and potentially useful for your genealogical research. Why not check it out? The more UK genealogists the better!

Get a heads-up on Twitter from the Twitter Cheat Sheet available from: http://www.geneabloggers.com/Twitter_QR_GB.pdf.

I'm at http://twitter.com/wychwoodnz - the name is a tribute to my Milton-under-Wychwood ancestor, but that's another story.....