So, once upon a time, one of my grandmothers used to send out family newsletters. I have a large (large!), extended family (a great example, chanson) so it would be very difficult to keep up with everyone individually. When we were younger, it was a bit easier. But as various cousins grew up, went to college or other pursuits, things became even more splintered.
Which is a part of life and life in large extended families.
What I find interesting is that now, I get my "family news" through a certain social networking site. I've seen recent photos of cousins and their kids. I've found out about their jobs, travels, strange meals they've had, etc. Just in the past year, I found out that two of my cousins had children (through this network first). Recently I found out another cousin is getting married, and one's partner is pregnant. I found out that various sets of relatives were moving. It's one stop shopping for people's birthdays - birthdays I wouldn't have known or remembered before.
It was funny (to me), because I was talking to my dad (another source of this family news) and I already knew all of these updates.
Some of them were news to him (he's not on the popular social networking site).
So I think instead of calling it a popular social networking site, I'll call it the Grandma-News replacement. No offense to my grandmother intended.
Back in the day, the only way to find out this information would be to talk with my Grandma or the people themselves.
Now it's all in one place, and includes updates from the people themselves.
Sometimes various updates wouldn't make it through the "grandma filter" for whatever reason.
I wonder if my Grandma will ever join the site - just so she can see all these updates first hand. :)
7 comments:
I like Grandma's updates, but I also like this more decentralized system where everyone can broadcast to everyone else directly. I should spend more time using said networking site... ;)
Thanks chanson - yes, the decentralized system is very nice.
That site has certainly made it easier to keep in contact with extended family. I love it for that. In fact, just today I decided to try and find a few of my second cousins that I knew pretty well as a teenager. Looking forward to becoming their friends. :)
FFG - for me, that's the neat thing. Some of my cousins/extended family I would have *no* idea what they were doing, what their kids looked like, fun places they went on vacation etc. So it's really nice in those terms.
Yes, it's very strange--among other things, I am now in regular touch with one of my half-siblings. Prior to this I used to hear from them maybe once or twice a decade.
Thanks chanson - yes, the decentralized system is very niceI like Grandma's updates, but I also like this more decentralized system where everyone can broadcast to everyone else directly. So it's really nice in those terms.
snoring solutions - do I know you outside of this blog? When I look at your blog, it looks like a business related blog. Please e-mail me at aerin64 at hotmail if you would like to chat more.
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