When Facebook came out I really didn’t have any interest in the latest craze. Then as more and more family were joining, I found it actually very beneficial. I could chat with family who are in other areas of the world, and share photos. Facebook has completely replaced the old school emails and forget snail mail that could get damaged or lost. I have found lost relatives who have helped fill in gaps in my research, relatives that have done years of genealogy work and shared their findings with me.
Finding people on Facebook isn’t hard, at the top in the search button type in a name of someone you know is still alive. No matter the age, unless they are under 13 yrs old they are most likely on Facebook. Send them a friend request, not a blind request, but one with a message explaining who you are and why you want to be friends. Sometimes you will already have a friend(relative) in common and Facebook will suggest you may know them.
I started researching my ancestors back in 1977, I was able to connect with two cousins on RootsWeb, but more recently I found two cousins on FaceBook. Just shows how technology is changing from day-to-day.
The internet has really helped connect many family members across the world. It is great because a distant relative may have a box of old photos with no clue who is in them, yet some distant relative may have all the answers to the history behind those people. More people are getting online to connect the puzzle of their families.