In recent times it has become increasingly popular for people to research their family history. What do you think are the reasons behind this?

One relatively new trend has been the growth in

popularity

of researching family histories. The following will discuss

this

topic and examine the factors that have led to

this

trend. The primary factor behind the recent increase in the

popularity

in

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of

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genealogy

is technological development, mostly the Internet. Prior to

such

development, if one wished to find out about their ancestors, they would have to trawl through piles of musty old records by hand. Now that so many records have been digitalized(USA, digitized UK) and are easily accessible, the task has become much simpler. The

interenet

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Internet

has

also

made it much easier to get in touch with distant relatives and exchange information,

further

simplifying the process. There are

also

some social factors at work. In the late 1980s, there were many reports discussing the increase in

popularity

of

genealogy

, indicating the internet is not the only factor. Some have suggested that as living standards increased,

people

found that they had more leisure

time

at their disposal, giving them the

time

needed to undertake what can sometimes be quite lengthy research. It is possible that

people

have always been curious about their ancestors to some extent, it is just today

people

now have the

time

and the means to research properly. The increasing number of

people

researching their family history in recent years has

also

been put down to/attributed to the influence of the media. The successful UK series Who Do You Think You Are has been influential in getting many interested in

genealogy

for the first

time

. The format has been adopted in many other countries and the recent boom in interest in researching family history in the US has directly attributed to the show.

Genealogy

has

also

become more widespread in popular culture, with plot lines of several films and series focusing on the tracing of distant relatives, adding a certain glamour to what can be seen by some as a rather dull hobby. In summary, the growth in the

popularity

of

genealogy

can largely be attributed to the three factors above.