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4 Reasons why Families should Connect Online

I come from a family of computer programmers. My mom, dad and brother all code for a living. Yet the only way we communicate is by using a phone tree. Did I say phone tree? Yes I did. How 2000 and late of us. If my tech-savvy family can’t move away from the archaic communication methods then how can the “regular” families keep up?

Families need to communicate on a regular basis. I communicate with my immediate family on a daily basis (pssst I live at home, don’t tell anyone.) I talk to my other relatives (cousins, aunts, uncles, etc) on a weekly basis. The funny thing is that with family, the majority of the decisions need to be group decisions that involve group discussions. It doesn’t stop at one on one conversations. Families need an easy to use, private and secure way of connecting online and this is where micromobs comes in.

#1 Family communication should be efficient

Phones
Everyone in a family needs to be on the same page. And the page should be short and sweet, not long and ridiculously inefficient. (wait a minute, that didn’t make any sense...but keep reading.) Lets assume my immediate family consists of 6 people. If I’m picking up dinner, I shouldn’t have to call 5 other people to make sure that they don’t cook/pick up dinner as well. When I use micromobs, I make ONE update to my family mob and everyone is on the same page. You got served! With delicious pizza that is.

#2 Relatives are family too and they miss you

My_family_tree
My dad has 5 siblings. My mom, with her true propensity to always win, beat him with 7 siblings. That leaves me and my brother with 12 aunts and uncles. Thanks to those 12 lovely people, I have 21 first cousins. 60% of those 21 cousins now have significant others. After some fun calculations, I just learned that I have 66 relatives that I must keep in touch with. Sigh. Who has time for second cousins? But wait! You do-- with micromobs. micromobs makes it easy for me to update my entire family at the same time. We remember to wish each other on birthdays/anniversaries, plan vacations together, share pictures and links, and enjoy some daily banter. It makes life a lot easier for us. I don’t like having my family on facebook. There’s a distinction between the content my family needs to see vs my friends vs co-workers.

#3 Control what you share with your family without worrying about complicated privacy options

Privacy
I love facebook. I’ve been a user since college and I don’t think I’d ever give it up. But I hate that there’s no distinction between the data my different social-groups see. I don’t always want to share the same content with my family that I share with my friends, let alone co-workers. micromobs allows me to share relevant information with my family and doesn’t spam the rest of my friends/co-workers. And, there are no complicated privacy controls. You control what you share at all times.

#4 It’s so easy, even a caveman can do it.

Caveman
Remember when I told you my parents are computer programmers. Yea, except they’re not web savvy. They still use hotmail for Pete’s sake! Same with tons of my other family members. But, they use micromobs. Why? Because it’s user friendly and they don’t need to read a manual to figure it out. It’s so easy, a caveman can use it.