Blog

Using Glassboard with Families

Happy New Year!

Like countless others, my family is large and dispersed across the country — and it’s nearly impossible to get everyone together for the holidays. This year was no different. There were a few factions who managed to organize some face time with each other, but no mass assembly. Given that we all have growing families of our own, it’s unfortunately not going to get easier either.

To help create more of a shared experience between family members, we created a single “board” in Glassboard and invited everyone to it. All told, it’s a board of 20 people with ages varying from 13 to 75. Since most of the tech-savvy folks in my family are my siblings, I expected most of the interaction on the board to come from us. We all have children now, and passing pictures around via email, while infrequent, was not foreign to us. But what actually happened over the holidays was entirely different. The grandkids and grandparents took over entirely. It didn’t matter that we were in three different time zones — there was chatter back and forth at all hours. It was as if they were in the same room.

What they’d talk about was all over the map. One of the more popular themes included pictures and the naming ideas for one family’s new dog, but there were also an awful lot of pictures shared from some app that lets you decorate virtual donuts. It was all great fun. The grandparents were always quick to respond with a ‘like’ or a comment, instantly and seamlessly connecting with their grandkids in a way they never had before.

As a parent I was more than happy to watch the conversation unfold. It was comforting that the kids (grandkids) had a safe place where they could share with their cousins, but more importantly they could build closer relationships with their grandparents who weren’t physically there. The best part of it all — the conversation hasn’t subsided since the holidays. Family members are still posting daily, and we’re staying in touch like never before.

Posted by Walker Fenton