Family social networking sites take off
June 2, 2006 by andymerrett
Why should the teens and computer whizzes have all the fun?
Recently, a number of social networking sites for families and parents have been launched, and are attracting quite a number of visitors.
They’re a community of ordinary, non-technical people who want to share advice and friendship over a common theme: raising children and keeping a family.
Call them “Family 2.0″ sites–places for people who may feel a little strange hanging out with the teenybopper set on MySpace. While big family-friendly sites have been around for a long time, few of them have taken advantage of newer Web technologies, even things as widespread as RSS feeds and mapping links.
“It’s an underserved market,” said Joe Kraus, founder of the Net software company JotSpot, which in May introduced Family Site, family networking software. “It’s as if, in the world of cars, all the marketers have been talking about horsepower and engine size, but the whole market was really interested in safety and convenience. (On the Web), we’re finally (saying) what people want to hear, like how I use this tool to keep my family in touch.”
Since January, nearly a dozen family-networking portals have launched in test version, including Ourstory.com, Zamily.com, Amiglia.com, Families.com, Famoodle.com, Jotspot Family Site, Cingo.com, FamilyRoutes.com and Famundo.com. Even Martha Stewart plans to introduce a similar social network for women to swap recipes and advice.
Read the full article: Here come the ‘Family 2.0′ sites
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ourstory.com has a great service, which allows you to share timelines of personal and family history. There is also a photo feature, as well as the ability to print a nicely bound book which you can give as a keepsake.
Their product is also free, which is definiely a plus! I haven’t tried the others, though…
Many of these Family 2.0 sites have something valuable to offer. Like ourstory.com, which has a lifeline/timeline feature, which can be printed in a book format.
Babychums.com is my favourite. Not mentioned in this article.