The Purser Family

Chances are you've probably never met someone with my last name, Purser. Other than my extended family I never have either. They are out there somewhere though. I know because there are 124 of us in the Facebook group "Famous Pursers." The group is dedicated to helping to link the Purser clan by providing an open forum for information sharing. It is a small example of the expansion of family history work going on over the Internet. The desire to know where you came from is more than just a curiosity, it comes from the deep emotional ties we feel to our family. The Internet not only provides an overwhelming amount of information for those wondering about their predecessors, but also an easy way to discover and collaborate with distant living relatives who are also searching for their ancestors. The potential of social networking in family history even caught the eye of the New York Times last year. The wealth and ease of information and relationships available on the internet is just what is needed to perform family history. Social networking will help us connect back to the original social network, the family.