Threads finally adds hashtag capability - and an EU roll out next week

Upon its launch, the Threads platform, available at https://www.threads.net, and via a dedicated app, was seen as a potential replacement for those finding the ever toxifying environmernt of Twitter to be a turn off, but one thing that shiot threads in the foot was the lack of a hashtag capability, making it diffciult to engage with a community of like-minded interest.

Well it's finally got there. Rather than calling them 'hashtags', Threads simply calls it offering 'tags'. You use the hashtag symbol - # - in front of a word to create them, but once done, the hashtag symbol disappears, and the tag turns blue (although on a browser it still seems to be showing as black in a post for some reason). You can also include a space between words in a tag, a difference from Twitter. 

However, the biggest difference on Threads from Twitter is that Zuckerberg is only permitting one tag in a post. So for now, I am using the tag genealogy for my posts on my account, which you can see at @scottishgenesblog.

Finally, Threads is also planning to roll out across the EU next week, at long last, potentially seeing a massive increase in the subscription base. 

Now Threads seems to be finally delivering on its initially advertised potential, I will be using the platform a lot more now in going forward, having previously quit Musk's monstrosity earlier in the year. I look forward to hopefully seeing some of you there!

For more on the new changes see https://www.standard.co.uk/news/tech/threads-hashtags-tags-social-media-b1125746.html and https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/8/23993595/threads-meta-eu-europe-launch-date#:~:text=Following%20its%20rollout%20in%20countries,European%20Union%20on%20December%2014th.

Chris  

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Scottish GENES quits Twitter

After 14 years of using the Twitter platform I have just posted my final Tweet on my remaining account there. I had intended to continue until the end of the month, but I just get more and more disgusted looking at the new app by the day, and am tired of having to defend my account from intrusions from those clearly not interested in following for the purpose that it was originally designed for. I have barely used it in the last three weeks, I haven't missed it, and it's time to move on. The account will be deactivated on Wednesday 16th August.

Twitter had the power to bring together the genealogy community in many unique ways, such as the use of hashtags to create meeting points such as #AncestryHour, but it is possible to become over reliant on a property, and to have your faith and years long trust invested in it abused. The original social contract between me as a user and the platform as the host has changed dramatically since its recent acquisition and its appalling rebrand. I genuinely have no idea where the current owner is going with it, nor where he is intending to take people to, but I do know that I was never consulted about the changes, and that I don't want to travel on that road with him or to reach that particular end destination. I have always been led by my conscience, and the new Twitter is just not for me. People have been meeting to discuss genealogy and family history for centuries, in many interesting ways, and they will always find a way to do so, and on their own terms. There are always alternative forums and platforms. 

If you have followed me on Twitter, I hope my contributions there helped, and thanks to all who did so. For anyone who may be disappointed, don't fret, you can continue to find me on Threads, Mastodon, and Facebook (details below), as well as my websites and LinkedIn! For those who never used Twitter, nothing changes!

Here's to the next chapter...

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Scottish GENES will be X-iting Twitter at the end of August

Twitter unfortunately seems to now be trying to position itself as an ex-app, which I think can be the only possible reason that it is now called 'X'. For several months, since Musk's acquisition of the platform, Twitter has appeared to be lurching to the right in terms of the levels it wishes to sink to. I am now receiving random follower requests almost on a daily basis with people openly including 'MAGA' nonsense in their profiles, and questionable politics, and to be honest, my own country is currently enjoying its own post-Brexit identity crises, and I'm not really up for getting dragged into another's - but hey Musk, thanks for asking anyway!  

I'm afraid that a social media app now using what to me looks like an oppressive black and white cross as its logo, whilst still protesting it is not right wing, is just a step too far for me, and as such, I will soon be quitting my remaining Twitter account, by the end of August. There comes a time when enough is really enough.

But I am still online elsewhere! The following are my other key social media platforms in use for Scottish GENES, beyond the blog itself:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGENESBlog/ - I have 4,600 followers on here, the page having first been set up in December 2011. I post each blog post on here once written, but also share additional news that may be of interest (perhaps from another territory not quite applicable to Ireland or Scotland, but which is an interesting story in its own right, and which may be of interest to followers worldwide), as well as sharing some humour, images from Scotland and Ireland, and other posts from accounts of family history interest for those areas. 

Please do feel free to follow me there, as I try to answer as many comments as possible, and with a few giggles along the way! It's also great to get feedback there on the latest news announcements, and to source new stories for folk from other accounts.

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@scottishgenesblog This is the new Meta run Instagram linked social media network app, the fastest subscribed to in history, and where I currently have 208 followers and growing. It is very early days here - a lot of folk have signed up as part of a holding pattern, waiting to see what is happening with Twitter, but I have had a fair few sign-ups in the last few days, as people seemingly appear to be increasingly ready to move away from Musk's new social media Mordor. In the very near future Threads plans to replicate many of the features currently to be found on Twitter, including two key tools - the use of hashtags, and a facility to only see posts from accounts that you follow, without which it is still a bit primitive. If you have not signed up yet, I'd encourage you to do so, to secure the name of the account that you wish to have (so no-one else gets there first!), and await developments (although apologies to those in the EU, where Meta is currently not launching the app as yet). 

One tip on Threads - in the morning, I tend to find on the news feed that there are lots of celebrities and folk you really can't be bothered with, but that the posts and news from those you do wish to follow seem to appear more consistently throughout the day. As Threads develops and evolves, I will be posting more there in due course - once you have the app installed, simply look for me at @scottishgenesblog.

Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES I started an account here prior to Christmas, and then took my foot off the pedal for a bit, but am now back on full time again, with some 649 followers. This is a bit closer to the current Twitter experience, and more (e.g. you can edit posts after they have been made), although the structure of the platform, with its 'instances', means that it is not quite as straightforward in terms of looking for accounts to follow. 

If on the Mastodon.scot instance, you'll find me at @ScottishGENES, for those on other instances look for me at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

For the 4500 who were following me on Twitter @chrismpaton since 2009 (this account is now deleted as of last week), and the 2500 following me at @genesblog since 2018, I hope you will consider following me on one of these other social media accounts in the very near future. I will remain on Twitter for another month or so to allow as much time as possible for you to explore these other platforms, and to hopefully sign up!

And if none of that floats your boat, don't forget that you can also sign up for the free Scottish GENES Newsletter, sent out every Sunday, via the panel to the right of this blog post! Look for the section that looks like the image to the right here and simply input your email address. This adds you to the subscribers list, essentially giving me your consent to email you the newsletter every week - you can also email me at any stage should you wish to be removed from the subscription list, or if you wish to re-register under a different email address.

(Please check your spam folder if the newsletter does not appear on the first Sunday after, and if so, tell your computer that I am hopefully one of the good guys!) 

I am genuinely sorry to be saying goodbye to Twitter. It was a great place to interact with other genealogists, but it is now a relic of another era, and I wish to leave it whilst I still have some good memories from it.

RIP Twitter, and fly free...

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Update on Threads

The new social media platform from Meta, entitled Threads (www.threads.net), has become the fastest growing app of all time, with over 100 million new sign-ups in the first week.

I have previously announced that I will be permanently moving to Threads once it has become more viable as a replacement for Twitter (http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2023/07/scottish-genes-is-now-on-threads.html), and have already deleted my longest running account there, @chrismpaton, which I had for 14 years. According to the Washington Post, Twitter is now paying right wing 'influencers' to post on its platform, degrading the brand even further (https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/13/twitter-creators-payments-right-wing/), whilst Reuters is reporting that Twitter's new seemingly toxic strategy seems to be putting off the advertisers, with a huge drop in revenue against what Musk was projecting (https://www.reuters.com/technology/elon-musk-says-twitters-cash-flow-still-negative-ad-revenue-drops-2023-07-15/). It's a far cry from the environment surrounding Twitter as a platform just a year ago - every day now I have to block right wing followers, bitcoin pushers, and a whole range of other folk clearly not in it for the genealogy! It's tiring, it's tedious, and it was never asked for.

Threads is shaping up to be a great replacement, but it is worth flagging up what Threads cannot do just yet, because it still has some way to go as a new-born. You can't use hashtags yet to focus on a topic, there's no chronological feed, and you can't view posts ('threads') from only those who are your followers. Accessibility features also need more priority. These are some of the more important projects that Meta says is on its to-do list, and the sooner they arrive, the better. What is great about the platform is that posts can be 500 characters in length, and video clips can be added up to 5 minutes in length, which I will exploit at some stage soon! The first update has just been announced for the app (https://www.imore.com/apps/meta-brings-out-the-first-of-many-updates-for-threads-on-your-iphone-whats-been-fixed), there will be plenty more along the way.

I am delighted to see 185 followers already on @scottishgenesblog, and hope you will switch from Twitter to join me there, or at least as well as there! And if Threads is not quite your cup of tea, you can also find me on Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Time to move on!

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Scottish GENES is now on Threads

Is this the end of days for Twitter as we have come to know it? 

In the last few months Elon Musk has made Twitter a fairly horrible place to be since buying it up and fairly well ruining the whole online networking experience. The genealogy community on Twitter has not in itself changed, but every day users now seemingly have to block new followers from right wing American organisations and other unsavoury areas for which no interest was ever shown, whilst basic services and tools such as TweetDeck are now being monetised, in the process ruining initiatives such as #AncestryHour. Twitter is fast becoming hard work in a way that it never previously was, and many users have been walking away.

On Thursday, Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta launched a new social media app called Threads. The app works very similarly to Twitter, but with a character limit of 500, rather than Twitter's 240 characters, and also permits links and attachments. What it does not support yet is the use of hashtags (#), and it has no messaging facility either, but it can only be a matter of time before these become features.

Musk is seemingly concerned at the development, and is now threatening to sue Meta. Tied into Instagram, over 30 million people have apparently already signed up to Threads, and I am one of them - you can now find Scottish GENES at https://www.threads.net/@scottishgenesblog (@scottishgenesblog for short on the app). Threads is available for download for both Android and Apple devices.

I will stay on Twitter for a while longer (@genesblog), but if Threads becomes a success it is my intention to remove myself from Musk's platform as soon as possible.

I hope to maybe see you on Threads! 

(NB: I currently have two Twitter accounts - @chrismpaton and @genesblog. Please note that I will be deleting the first of these, @chrismpaton, in the next few days. I will continue with @genesblog for the foreseeable future, but it is my intention to withdraw from Twitter as soon as possible).

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Threads at @scottishgenesblog.

Scottish GENES is now also on Mastodon!

So there's been a bit of a 'thing' about Twitter in the last few days! And as a consequence of that 'thing', there's something of an avian migration beginning to take place by users from that platform to a new platform, with somewhat nicer credentials, called Mastodon. 

I'll be continuting on Twitter for a while yet, until the point where it may seem a bit too mad to stick with it, but I have also now set up a new presence on Mastodon at @ScottishGENES@mastodon.scot.

Mastodon looks and feels very much like Twitter, but allows you to post up to 500 characters in a 'toot' (a non-avian 'tweet'!). It is set up very differently however, in that you can join one of various local servers serving a particular community. In my case, I've joined the mastodon.scot server, but once you have created a profile, you can follow anyone from any server community.  If you have already signed up on Mastodon's .Scot community, simply look for @ScottishGENES, but if on another Mastodon server, use the full address to find me, i.e. @ScottishGENES@mastodon.scot.

It sounds complicated, but it really isn't - the net effect is that once you have signed up, it works practically the same way as Twitter, give or take a few week minor differences. You can follow folk, share your news or other people's posts, respond to posts and also direct message. And it is free.

It may or may not take off, it may buckle under the weight of new interest, or it may simply be that th scented one begins to wise up, but either way, God loves a trier, and Mastodon deserves a go!

You'll find more about Mastodon in this BBC news story https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-63534240.

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Did your Presbyterian ancestors engage in dirty dancing?!

In a discussion on AncestryHour a few nights ago (www.ancestryhour.co.uk) I happened to mention that an ancestor of mine, Andrew Henderson, was prosecuted in a Perthshire kirk session in 1752 for 'promiscuous dancing', also known as 'promiseray dancing'. Here's the account from the session minutes:

At Arntully 8th Decr 1752. After prayer by ye Modr Sederunt John Sprunt John Morice John Kea Elders & John Richie Deacon

The Officer having reported that according to appointment he had cited to this meeting the following persons viz: Andrew Henderson, in ye Miln of Airntully, Lillias Grigor, John Nathan & George Ramsays, James Stewart, Joseph Morice, John, Agnes & Elizabeth Mallochs, Mary Crookshank, John Grigor, John Gellatly & Emilia Bennet all in Arntully. They being called, they all compeared Except James Stewart, and they being Interrigate by ye Modr One by One if they had been guilty of the indecent behaviour of promiscuous dancing, They all answered in the affirmation. Then After the Indelacicy & Sinfullness of such a Practise was laid before them ye Modr together wt ye Aggravation of their Sin having got publick Warnings agt the same They were severally Interrogate […] they acknowledged their said conduct to be sinful & thro’ Grace resolved agt the same for the future, & also against the Countenancing I so far as Witness it in others. They all after much deal acknowledged & Resolved agreeably to ye Interrogation, Except John Ramsay, who after all dealing wt him would neither Acknowledge nor Resolve as aforesaid.

They were all Removed. Then ye session proceeded to consider what Censure to Inflict upon them, and after Deliberation upon ye Matter They agreed in regard of some circumstances in ye case of ye Persons who had fallen into ye forsaid Indecent behaviour, to List in an admonition of them wt certifica[tio]n That if they shall afterwards be guilty of such a practise, the Session will inflict a higher Censure upon them. And wt respect to John Ramsay the Session delayed ye Considerat[ion]n of his case till next Meeting & that both he & James Stewart be cited to attend.

They being called in, and after ye Mod[erato]r had intimated to John Ramsay what ye session had agreed upon wt respect to him all ye rest were admonished by ye Mod[erato]r in ye Name of ye Lord Jesus Christ the only King & head of his church, wt certifican That is all or any of them should be found guilty of such a sinfull practise again, ye session would inflict a higher censure upon them. And they were exhorted by ye Modr to watchfulness & Rependance upon the Lord. Closed wt prayer.

(Source: Associate Session minutes, Kinclaven, CH3/502/1/93, National Records of Scotland)

Many of us have ancestors who were guilty of the 'sin' and 'scandal' of 'antenuptial fornication', but to really enter the Scottish genealogy hall of fame, you need to have ancestors who were guilty of dirty dancing!

It turns out, however, that this was not just a Scottish thing. A huge thanks to genealogist Kirsty Wilkinson for flagging up the Twitter find of the century, in the form of an account called Promiscuous Presbyterians, denoted as a "BA-funded project led by@DrLeanneCalvert on the sexploits of Presbyterians in Ireland & N. America, 1717-1830". There is also a website, Promiscuous Presbyterians at https://promiscuouspresbyterian.wordpress.com, concerned with 'Sex, Scandal & Sin in the Presbyterian World, 1717-1830'.

Here's the blurb:

Sexuality and Social Control: Irish Presbyterians in the Atlantic World, 1717-1830.

This project explores the relationship between sexuality, religion and migration. It focuses on Presbyterians and investigates the ways that Presbyterian sexuality was policed in Ireland and North America, between the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-centuries.

Salacious stories of stolen trysts in backrooms, fields and forests; misbehaving ministers riding on horseback, seducing the wives of their church members; and promiscuous Presbyterian youths sneaking around behind the backs of their elders form the basis of this research. What did Presbyterian women and men in past centuries get up to under the sheets? At what point did sexual activity become illicit? How different were Presbyterian communities in Ireland and North America? In tracing this aspect of Presbyterian life, this project asks what we can learn about the family by placing sex and sexuality at the core of our research.

The project is currently funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Grants Scheme (2020-21), supported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Ref: SRG19\190269).

Initial funding was received from the Presbyterian Historical Society USA, Research Fellowship Scheme, and the Anna Parnell Travel Grant, from the Women’s History Association of Ireland.

It sounds a fascinating project, and one I will certainly keep an eye on as it develops further!

DISCLAIMER: I can't dance to save my life. Coincidentally, I have no matches on my Henderson line through AncestryDNA yet either. The two things may be linked...) 

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.