Re: Genes Reunited

[Sylviaann]

A fellow dog walker said to me the other day "Have you seen that new site Genes something"  This man was interested in his family history and I gave him a lot of info and a list of sites a few years ago.  He has an unusual local name and could find loads on the web but I think he wants it all done for him.  I'd do it if he paid me. Mind he is also the person who actually paid for the 1881 census from e-bay last year.  I told him it was free and anyway he could have had my old copy which I bought before it was on the LDS site.

Sorry for the rant but this is the sort of person this advert attracts.  I'm not going to renew my membership anyway.  I provide info, no-one gives me any and i'm sick of their hot matches.  I've been a memeber for a few years and shouldn't have to pay for their extra searches now.

Sylviaann

[Ian]

I only joined GenesReunited a month or so back and I suppose I was curious. I uploaded my gedcom and have been contacted by a few very genuine and helpful people. I must admit that I paid my money so I could contact one of these! It was a risk but turned out to be worthwhile.

The downside is that I have people contacting me who give me their surname and then ask if we are related. I look in my tree and find that perhaps I have one instance of the name and that some 100 years ago.  I write back (courtesy never costs anything) and request a little more information and never here another thing.  I agree that the so called hot matches are sometimes quite laughable.

So I am rather undecided as to whether I should renew my membership.

[buttonmoon]

Hi, I have made a few good contacts through Genes but I do agree that the hot matchs are a little annoying.
Don't get me wrong I don't mind people contacting me about the relatives I have in my tree, in fact I enjoy having a chat with some of the people even if the relatives are not a match and at the end of the day thats what genes is there for.
What does annoy me though, is when people contact you using a tone which implies that you have contacted them about a certain person instead of the other way round and when you do reply to them you never hear anything back. Whats that all about? I've had quite a few of these. I don't think its so much the site anymore as the people who use it! I much prefer using rootschat, everyones polite!

Regards
Kate.

[suttontrust]

We have these conversations about GR regularly, don't we.  At the moment I am custodian of a friend's tree - I researched it for him and persuaded him to join GR so that I could upload the tree.  So now I'm intercepting a lot of messages, and the demands to view the tree.  I always say, politely, email me on .... and we can swap information.  Most do so.  Others respond with a "request to view your tree" or don't respond at all.  I had a lengthy correspondence with one lady who couldn't understand what the problem was with giving access to the tree - it was simply sharing information, she thought.  I am not interested in providing more names to collectors of names, or in acquiring more names myself.  We should be helping each other with research.

[Ian]

I agree entirely.....we should be helping each other where we can.  I suppose that my impression of genes is that it's all give and not a lot of take!

[Ian]

Hi again

Yes I'm relatively new to this and haven't posted too often but where I have, the replies have been so helpful. By reading through the various threads, I've learned a great deal too.
I've found Ancestry invaluable in looking up census records etc but sometimes the tree matches are a little bizarre.  I saw a wonderful example the other day where a woman born in 1580 was married to a man born in about 1862.  Now we have all made mistakes but that seems a little extreme!
I use tribalpages to store my "latest" version as it's easy to upload and download the gedcom and I can chose who to give access to - it's password protected.
I'm sure there are advantages and drawbacks with all these sites!
I think you are right...it's the people and not the site!

Ian

[Springbok]

I always seem to reply to a GR subject !
Of course it's not perfect, but over the years I have  had, and instigate many contacts.

There is no way i could have ever found the 3000 ancestors and their descendants , without these wonderful researchers   All of them are blood relations, however distant and sometimes we have swapped photos.

Yes there is always the ignorant who for whatever reason is a pratt.

Hot matches has , in the new contacts just provided me with two new huge branches . I go through the pages and check the boxes to bring the "maybe"
names down to three pages.This means the computer generated matches next time will give me a new list of potentials.
Thinking of all the £££s, I have spent on other sites and obtaining Certs. I still reckon it is good value.
I have not got "just a list of names" but have learned so much about their lives and have been sent extracts from books/ newspapers about their lives.

Spring

[Roobarb]

I've had good and bad experiences with GR but all in all I am very pleased with what I've had. I recently got in touch with my second cousin, our grandparents were brother and sister. She lives in Wales where she was born and we have shared a lot of valuable and interesting information. I've had quite a number of other successful contacts too. The down side is the 'takers' - I had one who picked up 45 names from my tree and that was after I had posed a number of questions to find out if he was genuine! But one of those names was my own, and despite emailing twice to ask him to remove my name he didn't. I had to resort to reporting it to GR as abuse and I must say they were very prompt in their response, they removed my name from his tree and emailed him to tell him. I don't like the feeling that I'm related to someone like that, however distantly! 

[lawra]

I've got to agree with most comments esp. on the hotmatches. And how easy it is for people to assume they are related from sum so many 100 years back.

However the people who reply to al my emails i send i have to about. For instance my dads aunt lives in canada, and rarely have contact. I found her on GR, if only i knew she was tracing the family back (and properly buying all the cert s and such) i would of got hold of her a long long time ago (i'm in the lack of money part and only buy cert every so many months!) Now she keeps me updated and has put me in contact with all her contacts, and has me galloping around taking pictures of gravestones, nd any family photos she hasnt got from her parents families.

aswell as people who have got me in contact with particular history books and such which feat. ancestors. People who always ask me questions about my tree, and i cant answer them i almost always tell them of this site 'bigging it up' because everyone on here seems to be truely helpful and sincere, so many have helped me push into the right direction when i've hit brickwalls....