#GenealogyForum Chat Channel
on Afternet

A place to meet very nice people who share a common interest.

Greetings from Texas!

I know that some are leery of using IRC (Internet Relay Chat) because of some of the stories that drift around about the creeps that lurk about some channels that are less than wholesome environments. But, IRC is no different than walking through your local business district, choosing a movie theater, or selecting TV channels from your cable company. You still have choices and ways to limit the harassment of the JERKS who would infringe on your right to enjoy the benefit of using IRC for meeting and chatting with people who are interested in things that interest you.

A couple of years ago, we, (eleven IRC friends and I) started a genealogy Chat channel on Afternet. It has been a long time building for two reasons:

1) We chose a small network that was not even on the network selections listed on the major IRC client software, (Afternet is now on the list of the major client, mIRC, which we recommend anyway). The "lag" and the Jerks on the large network where we had met in another genealogy channel had become a nuisance since the network operators had no interest in minimizing either problem. We talked with the Network operators on Afternet prior to moving in and felt that they had the interest of the users as a major priority.

2) Many of the existing genealogy channels at the time had become, more or less 'closed societies' where many newbies did not feel comfortable or welcomed. So, building a new channel on a small, new network was going to have to come from primarily NEW IRCers recuited almost singly, one to one, because many mailing lists 'frown on' postings regarding IRC channels.

But! We persevered! Now, we have the beginning of a Genealogy Community on Afternet. Many have elected to start a channel for individual surnames in their line, where others with the same surname can meet, become acquainted and help each other with their common name. There are also 'area' channels, focusing on a particular part of the country/world that is of special interest to them and others. The total number of genealogy channels in Our Community has gone over the twenty mark and is growing.

The 'mother channel', #GenealogyForum, acts as a sort of 'clearing house' to help when we can and direct you to others if we can't or if your interest has a channel to specialize in it. There are regular and spontaneous mIRC lessons available for the new users. We do collective advertising of our community on our mailing lists for the benefit of all the channels.

This is NOT to say that ALL is 'business' online. We DO have our 'lighter' moments when the channel is filled with music and merriment, so if you join us and we appear to be in the midst of a 'romper room' session, throw a few surnames and places on the screen and see how fast the playtime stops and serious genealogy begins. Some of us know each other's genealogy needs as well as we know our own, so we tend to pass the time together frivilously until new blood arrives on the scene to get us back to genealogy.

Of course, IRCing is not for everyone and makes EVERYONE nervous the first few times online, but it gets easier as you get more comfortable with the program you are using and get to 'know' the people in the channel. Soon you get to feel like old friends and family. In fact, some of your family will sooner or later show up there! I still have hopes of finding some other of 'ole John Wilson's' descendants in the channel someday and they will have ALL the answers to my Wilson questions. I HAVE met new Dickey relatives there!

JOIN US! The atmosphere is light and friendly and the research help is abandant! We share our resources, URLs, and do lookups for each other, and, of course, share a few laughs and goodtimes too.

The website for #GenealogyForum has step by step instructions for downloading, setting up, joining AfterNET, and using mIRC.

I look forward to meeting you in cyberspace, and, who knows, maybe someday in the 'real world'. I have met many of the people from GenealogyForum from many parts of the United States and Canada and one while in England last year! Wonderful People! ALL!

Warmest Regards!

Margaret

aka tex^mom on AfterNET

This page Added on Dec. 19, 1998