‘Tis the Season to Share Online

By Sharon Miller Cindrich

Q: I'd like to share family photos and coordinate holiday plans online this year. Any suggestions?

Web sites like Flickr and Photobucket are a great way to share snapshots; however, if you’re going to invest the time, I’d suggest a Web site program designed with families in mind. Family Web site services have easy-to-use features that let you share photos, calendars—even family trees and recipe books. Try these out, for free, and see which fits your family best:

Famster.com Personalize your site at the Theme Park or design cartoon avatars of everyone in the family—including the cat—in the Character Studio. Famster offers a family tree feature, and it has fantastic parental control options. E-mail, blogging tools and private instant messaging help you stay in touch, and the calendar feature lets users coordinate holiday plans during this hectic time of year. (Two-week free trial, then $9.95 a month.)

MyFamily.com Share news, post photos and make plans. Security options keep information under your control. What makes this service special is how it lets family members post memos, make announcements or narrate a family slide show in their own voices, recorded over the phone. Let the kids share their stories or sing a few holiday carols to add a personal touch to this season’s greetings. (Free for basic site, or $29.95 a year for ad-free site and extras.)

Connecting2Families.com In addition to connecting with your own extended family, this site lets you connect to new friends. Fill out a quick questionnaire to create your family profile then set your preferences, and Connecting2Families will introduce you to other families who can relate to your own family’s trials and triumphs. Your info is kept safe and secure. Once you become friends with another family, you can send messages, check each other’s calendars, and share photos and blogs. (Sign-up is free.)

Sharon Miller Cindrich is a mother of two and the author of E-Parenting: Keeping Up with your Tech-Savvy Kids and A Smart Girl’s Guide to the Internet.