Have you heard of Paper.li? I just recently started looking at it. You can use it to create a newspaper of articles, photos, and videos that interest you. In other words, genealogists can make their very own Paper.li newspaper and then share it with other like-minded people through social media.
Start by visiting the Paper.li website. It will ask you if you want to sign up (or log in) through Twitter or through Facebook. I picked Twitter (since I am no longer using Facebook). Next, you will be asked if you want to authorize Paper.li to use your account. The app will read Tweets from your timeline, see who you follow, and follow new people. It will update your profile, and will post tweets for you.
It did not ask for my Twitter password, and it has information that tells me how to revoke access to the application anytime I want. Paper.li will not have access to my direct messages or be able to see my Twitter password. Click a button to allow Paper.li to access your Twitter account, and you will be asked to enter your email address.
Now, you need to pick a title for your newspaper. You can also pick a subtitle/description for it. Choose if you want to make it update daily, mornings and evenings, or weekly. The next step is to find and select content sources for your paper.
If you are going to make one about genealogy, you will want to choose sources that are relevant to the topic. Put the word “genealogy” into the box that says “search for anything”. It will bring up the Twitter accounts for FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, and many more. You can also sift through users tweets that mentioned the word “genealogy”.
When you are all finished, you will have instructed Paper.li to find things on Twitter that are relevant to your interest – genealogy. It will aggregate, (or seek out and gather) new information as often as you told it to (daily, morning and evening, or weekly).
There appears to be an option to use Paper.li through Twitter, Facebook, Google +, RSS, and YouTube. I expect the general process for how to set up your very own genealogy based Paper.li newspaper is similar no matter which form of social media you are using. Bookmark the page. It will automatically update itself every 24 hours (unless you change that setting).
What if you don’t happen to like what Paper.li pulls into your newspaper? There are options. You can delete any post, (and it will be replaced by a different one). You can choose to block entire websites from showing up in your newspaper. You are now the editor of your very own genealogy Paper.li newspaper! It might find you some resources that are brand new to you!
Image by NS Newsflash on Flickr