Keeping in Touch

We live in a mobile world. We raise great kids in rural communities and then are forced to see them have to leave to make a living because there are no jobs available to keep them close to home. Older folks in the northern climes seek the sun in winter and travel south and west to more temperate and warmer places, leaving other family behind. With families scattered far and wide, how can they keep in touch and share experiences? Technology has given us some tools like phone and e-mail and now web 2.0 has given us more ways to share our life experiences with those we love.

Today I bumped into a very cool new application Lifesnapz while seeking out projects for our upcoming "More Things on a Stick" that looks to be a winner.

This description is from their web site: "LifeSnapz is a free, easy and secure way for people to record and organize important events, milestones and memories in their lives.

Users of LifeSnapz, can contribute text, photos, and video to describe these events, share them with self-designated groups (like family members, colleagues, schoolmates or youth sports teams) and explore these events using dynamic timelines, maps, and lists.

Our vision is a site where users and groups can keep their memories alive and vibrant so that they can be relived for many years thereafter."

Once signed up, the site itself was easy to navigate, very intuitive for users. You can create a group, then create an event, upload pictures and/or videos, and caption and tag them. Inviting others to join you and giving them either full or view only rights was simple as well. There is a discussion and comments feature. You can list those present at the event by name and they are listed on the page. Photos can be uploaded or imported from your computer, Flickr, Picasa, or Youtube.

Multiple events can then form a visual timeline for you. You can map the location of the events as well with the integrated Google map feature. You can sign up for e-mail notices of updates to your groups and events too. Privacy settings allow you to share only what you want with those you trust.

Simple, but oh so cool. It took me less than fifteen minutes to get started with my first group and event and invite family members to join. I had planned to start a family blog to help us all stay in touch, but LifeSnapz seems like it would be much easier for non-techies to use.

Of course, it's not the same as being together in person, but at least we'll be able to keep up with how everyone looks and share the events that are important in each other's lives.