Finding living name-bearers

Finding living name-bearers

<p>Living name-bearers are often aware of relationships and connections that cannot be revealed simply by using published transcriptions and data. In some cases this is family folklore, in others it resides inside family documents such as family bibles handed down from one generation to the next.</p> <p>Traditionally the way to reach living name bearers was to write to them, using the Electoral Roll to identify addresses, or to phone them, using the telephone directories of the national landline monopoly company. This landscape has now changed completely. Electoral Roll data is now partial rather than complete as most countries that publish anything allow voters to opt out of the published version. In the UK, in some places only 30-50% of voters are on the published Roll. A similar growth in opt out registrations is visible in the landline directories, which have been further slimmed down as an increasing number of phone users drop their landline altogether.</p> <p>In their place are a bewildering variety of online social networks and websites with registered members who can be identified and approached. Principal among these sites are:</p> <ul> <li>Facebook</li> <li>Google+</li> <li>Twitter</li> <li>LinkedIn  (a network of business professionals)</li> <li>My Space</li> <li>Bebo</li> <li>Skype</li> <li>Friends Reunited</li> <li>Genes Reunited</li> </ul> <p>Many social networks have a high proportion of younger members, generally a hard to reach cohort for most one-name studies.</p> <h3>See also</h3> <ul> <li><a href="/wiki/guild-wiki/publicise/facebook-for-one-name-studies/" target="_blank">Facebook for one-name studies</a></li> </ul>