05 June 2020
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Discover how to use social media to find information and real-life stories about your street without ever needing to leave the house.
The Society for One Place-Studies invite us to ‘get social’ with their top tips.
Facebook and Twitter searches
Search on Facebook for groups or on Twitter for users with names like “Memories of…”, “History of…”, or even “Pictures of…” your town as these are usually filled with people who currently live in your town, or did in the past. They are a goldmine of information, photographs, newspaper cuttings, and stories of what life was like on your street.
Try asking in those groups specifically about your street, and there’s a good chance you’ll find people who lived there (or still do) with memories of the road, stories about big events which happened there, and information about who lived where and when. Sometimes people will be willing to chat to you either through commenting/replying or separate conversations in more depth.
Capture those stories
This is all a form of community history, and capturing it is vital – often you will find information from listening to people tell you stories that you wouldn’t be able to find in any formal records like censuses or directories.
Save your conversations by either copying and pasting into a document on your computer, saving images with the filename including who gave it to you and what it is of, or taking a screenshot of the whole page (you can use your phone’s or computer’s built-in screenshotting function, or download an app or browser extension to help with this).
These stories are what bring together genealogy and local history, and are what really help to bring the history of your place to life.
Find out more about how the Society For One-Place Studies can help you explore your local area on their website.
