Using Twitter for a Photo Reunion

The Photo Detective

Twitter is a social media platform that folks either love or hate. It doesn’t generate too much of an in-between feeling. It’s known for short posts and hashtags. It’s the place you go for breaking news and some groups like #GenChat use it to inspire collaboration and social interaction in the genealogy world. There are photo historians on Twitter too.

But I was surprised to see a photo reunion trending. Historian and author Victoria Johnson maximized her Twitter reach by encouraging her students and twitterstorians (historians on Twitter) to share an unidentified photo she found in a used book. It caused a flood of comments, resulted in a reunion and landed Victoria in the national spotlight of CNN and ABC News.

It’s made me reevaluate the power of Twitter for family history ( and it might make you take a look at the social media platform).

Related Episodes:

Episode 142: Vintage Aerial Photos

Episode 101: Rediscovering an American Community of Color

Links:

• Story on CNN
• ABC News Story
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About My Guest:

Victoria Johnson is a historian and Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at Hunter College of the City University of New York. Her most recent book, American Eden, a biography of the New York doctor who served at the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr (yes, he has a small part in the musical!) was a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award in Nonfiction and for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in History.

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen is a frequent keynote speaker on photo identification, photograph preservation, and family history at historical and genealogical societies, museums, conferences, libraries, and other organizations across the U.S., London, and Canada. She’s the author of several books and hundreds of articles and her television appearances include The View and The Today Show (where she researched and presented a complete family tree for host Meredith Vieira). She’s been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, The Boston Globe

I'm thrilled to be offering something new. Photo investigations. These collaborative one-on-one sessions. Look at your family photos then you and I meet to discuss your mystery images. And find out how each clue and hint might contribute to your family history. Find out more by going to maureentaylor.com and clicking on family photo investigations.

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