So I’ve be blogging for a few months now and it has indeed been a lot of fun. I spent the last couple of days thinking about what kind of posts have gotten some of the best responses.
Posts that have a story associated with them. Can be small snippet of a story of lengthy piece. But it seems those with a genealogy bent to their personality love a good or even passable story.
Posts that talk about how I’ve done it wrong. Confessing one’s genealogical sins seems hard at first, but it seems to have brought out some camaraderie. Let’s face it — none of us are perfect. And we all started as really naive and clueless family historians. Who knew a birth record could be wrong? Who knew that vital records don’t exist for everyone and are not readily available? Who knew those stories about Indian princesses are just stories and not facts? But figuring this out and then learning how to fix our errors? That is one of the joys of genealogy. We never stop learning. I enjoy discussing the learning process as much I enjoy discussing my ancestors.
Posts about the forgotten. This was and still is the main goal of my blog. I don’t want my ancestors, good, bad or ugly to be forgotten. They have made me who I am. And remembering those who have left no one behind, such as my maiden aunts and bachelors uncles, seemed to have struck a real chord with many.
So I think I’m on the right path. It’s OK not to be perfect. Which is good, because that is not in my DNA. And sharing our mistakes maybe can make it easier for others. Or at least we can share in our “can you believe I did that?”
And telling the stories. Making the records come to life. That is the fun and addictive part, isn’t it?
cluster genealogy 
Good points all, Anne. The third point on not being forgotten particularly resonates with me. I like it that “forgotten” is your blog’s middle name. Focusing on rescuing the forgotten seems to be your forte, and there are lots of readers out there who will be drawn to that.
Ancestor’s stories, genealogy mistakes made, and forgotten ancestors. All great reasons to blog! Love it.
When I do my blog, sometimes I find that something that I wrote really quickly, on a day that I was really busy, gets lots of comments. I think that the first thing that pops into my head is also the first thing that pops into other readers’ heads, so they relate to what I quickly wrote.
I’ve just come across your blog and it’s lovely. I’m looking forward to reading more about your journey 🙂
I coudn’t agree more, Anne. More happy blogging!
I’m enjoying your blog. It helps pass along ideas that I’ve tried to pick up in writing my own family history blog. So thanks for using this outlet and via Facebook.
Sometimes the strangest blog posts get the most hits, and it happens months after they are published. I haven’t figured that one out yet, but it happens all the time to me. Yesterday I had three hits to a story from two years ago. Go figure!