What the Future Looks Like

Nobody can really tell, of course, but we can always speculate about what the future holds. When it comes to the topic of genealogical societies, I think the best way to assess how the society of the future will take shape is to look at the next generation of people who are already involved in genealogy.

We can garner a snapshot of that, right away, thanks to a group which had its beginning in 2013. That group of founding members is now known as the NextGen Genealogy Network. A nonprofit organization by and for young genealogists, it sports a current leadership which seeks to "provide resources to promote the next generation's engagement in the genealogical community and offer innovative, virtual opportunities for development."

They are not kidding when they speak of "virtual" opportunities. The NextGen Genealogy Network is seemingly everywhere online. Besides their social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, NextGen is not shy about putting their best face forward in a series of videos on their YouTube channel. This bunch is active and engaged and sporting a can-do attitude that long-term genealogical societies would benefit from emulating.

If we want to know what the possibilities are for what the genealogical society of the future might look like, we wouldn't be far off track to imagine it would be somewhat like the energy emerging from the many projects taken on by the NextGen Genealogy Network. While they claim a worldwide membership, they have still managed to find ways to keep connected.