We’ve Hit A Snag

Well, in spite of my best efforts to demonstrate the usefulness of blogs in writing family history stories, we’ve hit a snag–getting the main participants registered and on board, so all can contribute.

1. As helpful as blogs are in getting groups of people together without each having to actually be physically present,  they are not without their challenges.  Take, for example, our major participants in this experiment of writing a family history.  These 70- and 80-something-year-old siblings have a perfect knowledge of what life was like “back then,”  but they are lacking in the language to express it.  That’s right, they are lacking in the language of technology.  Not only is it necessary for them to learn new concepts and procedures–those which three- and four-year-old’s absorb with little effort–they also have to unlearn some things and remember others–which is challenging for someone who cannot even remember (or retrieve) a friend’s name or what day of the week it is!
2. Another challenge is the leader, in this case the blog owner, who is also a newcomer on the technology scene and is struggling to stay one step ahead of her followers.  Like our mother used to say, she knows just enough to be dangerous.
3. I came face to face with a third challenge as I attempted to help my four siblings register as “followers” of this blog, so the system would recognize them as legitimate participants and not spam.   Well, there is more than one way to register and more than one thing to register for.  As Dad used to say, “There is more than one way to skin a cat.”
4. Furthermore, computers are just getting too smart these days and try to anticipate what you want to do next, ofttimes leading you down the path to an unintended destination.  To add to the confusion of registering, the leader (blog owner) does not see the same thing on her computer screen as a potential follower sees during the registration process, making it difficult to give relevant guidance.

If this all sounds like I am confused, it is because I am.  I think I need to make a personal visit to each of my siblings and see if we can figure out how to get them commenting.

In the meantime I will try to post a few things for you to think about.