FamilyRoutes is a new online community for families offering free, unlimited blogging and photo sharing as well as a host of other great features. Samantha Fein, one of the founders (and a mom herself), explains the company’s vision: “Each of us has many dimensions, not just parenthood or our work life. This service is about sharing our interests, projects and challenges with the people we care about.”
Fein recently wrote to me, “We love to see gay families full of life on our network (and anywhere of course). Our hope is to showcase lesbian families as clearly as all other families.” Sounds like a great opportunity for building bridges, as well as keeping in touch with family and friends. Thanks for being an ally, Samantha.
All or some of your FamilyRoutes information can be public or private, and you can invite others to contribute as well. E-cards and “care packages” of photos and messages are additional built-in communication tools.
Is FamilyRoutes better than Blogger (or WordPress, or Typepad) + Flickr? The techno-savvy, and those already set up with one of the above services may prefer the greater flexibility of a do-it-yourself solution. Those who want an integrated, simple way to get up and running fast may favor FamilyRoutes. Even the techno crowd, though, may want a site with FamilyRoutes in order to include less geeky family and friends in a collaborative online project about their lives.
One more reason to like FamilyRoutes? It’s a woman-run company. Fein founded the company with two other women, all ex-Yahoo employees.
Right now, FamilyRoutes is in Beta, which mean they’re still adding features and working out bugs. Nevertheless, it shows a lot of promise. Give it a whirl and see what you think.
