7 Genealogy Facebook Apps

By Thomas MacEntee

Facebook is a great tool for genealogy: You can keep in touch with family, share photos and even tap into free apps designed with family historians in mind.
Family history buffs have been flocking to Facebook recently -- and not just to reconnect with high school buddies or play FarmVille. The popular social media website is actually a great tool for genealogy: You can keep in touch with family, share photos and even tap into free apps designed with family historians in mind. The seven apps highlighted here can help you find resources and family connections. In addition to genealogy-focused options, look for other handy research helps, such as the WorldCat app for locating items in libraries. As with all Facebook applications, be sure you fully understand what types of personal data an application collects from your account when you install it. See Facebook's Controlling How You Share page for guidance.

Family Tree
This social networking app from FamilyBuilder lists 270 million potential relatives.

You can:

    build your family tree
    add photos
    connect with and search for family members

Tip: Be prepared for a plethora of ads -- some of which will appear related to FamilyBuilder, but aren't.

Family Village
Facebook's first family history game, Family Village is like FarmVille for genealogy.

You can:

    build your family tree
    create an ancestor village and "immigrate" others to it
    invite family members
    learn about your ancestral heritage

Tip: The app is still in development mode, so you may find some glitches. Family Village encourages feedback.

I Remember
Fold3 brings its popular pages feature to Facebook, letting you create a memorial page for a friend or relative.

You can:

    add photos
    create a timeline
    map locations
    post memories
    share stories

Tip: Before starting a new memorial page, search to see if one already exists.

Live Roots
Tap into a specialized search index listing more than 230,000 resources (about 25 percent are fee-based).

You can:

    discover new resources
    navigate locations
    search keywords and surnames
    suggest other genealogy resources

Tip: Search for your surname on more than 15 websites, including Ancestry.com and Google Books, simultaneously.

Mundia
Mundia is Ancestry.com's app to locate family and search for ancestors in public trees and message boards on Ancestry.com .

You can:

    build your family tree
    track family events
    create a photo gallery, tag pictures
    search message boards
    send messages to family members
    view family facts

Tip: Use the Find People function to search 1 billion people in more than 10 million family trees.

OneFamilyTree
This app from family website service OneFamilyTree has the ability to import a GEDCOM file.

You can:

    build your family tree
    collaborate with family members
    share photos
    track family events

Tip: Check Privacy Settings under the Admin tab to control visibility of your Anniversary Calendar and Family Wall.

We're Related
FamilyLink's helps you find other relatives on Facebook and share information.

You can:

    build your family tree
    connect with relatives
    create a family "photage" to post on Facebook

Tip: Again, expect a barrage of ads.