- Duration: 2023 – 2027
- Project lead: Dr. Rieke Böhling
Funded by: Central Research Development Fund (ZF) of the University of Bremen
Genealogy platforms such as Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com offer users the opportunity to research family histories at home on computers and smartphones. These platforms are changing the way family history is researched. The platforms offer
a) large amounts of digitized historical documents,
b) DNA tests and an assessment of users’ ancestry, and
c) a forum for connection and collaboration between users.
This project analyzes how genealogy platforms shape and change media practices related to memory. It combines a mapping of platforms and an analysis of affordances with research into the lived experiences of users. It considers issues of privacy and digital traces in relation to potentially sensitive information (such as DNA test results) and the platforms’ use of this information, as well as users’ perceptions and reflections on these issues. It also examines the function of algorithms and artificial intelligence in the interpretation of historical information.
Finally, the project offers insights into how these types of platforms shape constructions of individual identity and ‘doing family’ (see also Lohmeier & Böhling, 2017), particularly with regard to categories such as nationality and ethnicity. The project contributes to insights into the impact of media platforms, technology and artificial intelligence on everyday life and media practices related to (family) memory.
Reference
Lohmeier, Christine and Rieke Böhling. 2017. “Communicating Family Memory: Remembering in a Changing Media Environment.” Communications 42 (3): 277-92.
Project Publications
Lohmeier, Christine/Böhling, Rieke (forthcoming 2026): DeepStory, NFTs and Tamagotchis: Reconceptualizing Memory Objects in Contemporary Media Environments. In: J. Garde-Hansen and R. Chidgey (eds.), Routledge Companion to Media and Memory.
Project Presentations
Böhling, Rieke (in preparation): “You Are Your History”: Family Memory and Identity on Genealogy Platforms. Invited Talk: Cultures of Media Production (CMP) Research Group. April 17, 2026, Groningen.
Böhling, Rieke (2026): “Be a part of something big” – Kollaborative Familienforschung, Plattformen und Erinnerung [Collaborative Family Research, Platforms and Memory]. DGPuK Annual Conference: #Wissenschaft #Kommunikation #Demokratie. March 19, 2026, Dortmund.
Böhling, Rieke (2026): Kollaborativ, professionalisiert und digitalisiert? Genealogie im digitalen Wandel [Collaborative, Professionalized and Pigitalized? Genealogy in the Digital Age]. Genealogica, virtuelles Festival rund um Ahnenforschung. February 7, 2026, Online.
Böhling, Rieke (2025): DeepNostalgia, LiveMemory und AI Time Machine: Familienerinnerung und Ahnenforschung zwischen bewegten und bewegenden Bildern [Family Memories and Genealogy between Moving and Touching Images]. DGPuK Sections Conference: Images in Motion and Moving with Images: Gender, Power, and Mobility. November 20, 2025, Tübingen.
Lohmeier, Christine/Böhling, Rieke (2025): Tamagotchis, NFTs, and Deep Nostalgia: Thinking Towards the Future of Mediated Remembering and Forgetting. 20 Years of ZeMKI International Anniversary Conference. October 24, 2025, Bremen.
Böhling, Rieke (2023): “You Are Your History” – The Datafication of Genealogical Research. Online Event The Datafied Family: Algorithmic Encounters in Care, Intimacies, Routine and Play. June 2023, Surrey, Online.