Another Use for Social Media - Family Ties ?

We know how social media has changed business, government and organizations and the advocacy community. But I believe there is an aspect of it that is underated. It is the promise of this technology in uniting and maintaining the ties that bind families together. The maily that "tweets" together stays together? Not quite, but something like that.

A large family with members spread across the country could build an internal communications network that would serve a medium-sized business.

The central engine of such a netwok could be a blog. People from every branch of a family tree could have autho rights to THE family blog. They would post about birthdays, graduations, job changes, relocations, new arrivals and even memorials. Blog postst could also be used to share information about prior generations to tie together lineage in a fun and interestingly interactive way.

The next component would be You Tube. Family members near and far could share videos on activities and milestones that could be linked from and highlighted on the blog. Baby's first words, highights from a wedding or Grandma's stories about her childhood would be excellent candidates for this tool. Imagine the excitement and togetherness that would come from constant uploads to You Tube from cousins and siblings in different states.

Flick would enhance the video segment. A readily accessible collection of social media-style photo albums that everyone can contribute to and access would reallygenerate some family enthusiasm. For exmple, you and Uncle Billy both took photos at jane's graduation. But he got a better angle and used a professional camera. You can download or copy his shots at Flickr. Or someone else in the family network sees some really good candid shots of themselves in the collection. Presto - they've grabbed them and now they are part of that family's blog post. What's an historical achive without photos.

Next we have Facebook. Already, maybe half of your family is on Facebook. So you create a family Facebook page that draws in all the relatives as Friends. The family Facebook page comports with the other elements and undergirds the entire network like a foundation for a house. Better yet it becomes your family's Digital Town Square.

Finally, the one tie that runs through it all is a series of Twitter feeds. You could have one central feed that alerts about new postings on the blog, new photos or videos uploaded. Quite simply, we are talking about a fmily news and information network.

I've given you the blueprint. Now go build it.

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