Guest Posting from The Genealogy Insider:

The other day, I was on Facebook.com chatting with my cousin about our family tree. We were discussing a distant relative whom we hadn’t seen in years. Where did she go, what was she doing, did she marry? All the usual questions one would ask.

After our conversation had ended, I decided to type in “family trees” on the search line. What I found was that Facebook had many groups interested in family history.

I found groups such as Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, and FamilyTreeMagazine.com. But, I also found groups interested in specific family names. There were groups with names like O’Brien Family Tree, Hartley Family Tree, and Potts Family Tree.

If you cannot find your surname in an existing group, you can create your own. The group may be open to the public, or you can request that only select people may join.

There are groups for people who were born or raised in specific areas. My mother was born in Lowestoft, England, and we found a group entitled “Lowestoft People, Where Are They Now?”

The best part about joining a group is that you can share your interest with your Facebook friends. You can add your knowledge, memories, and photographs. You can ask questions and get real-time answers from those that are on Facebook at that time.

Connecting with family is a great way to build your family tree and family memories. Facebook.com helps to establish communication with relatives that you haven’t seen or heard from in years. From these relatives, you can connect with others in the family who may not know you. You could have an eighth cousin, twice removed, that lives in Italy or France. Or, you could find that they live only ten miles away.

If you get the chance, check out some of the genealogical groups on Facebook. You may find one that shares both your interest and passion in family history.

If you have a particular Facebook group that you would like to add to this article, please use the Comments section on this page.

Photo by William Iven on Unsplash.