Ancestry trees

[Mike in Cumbria]

  You will be untangling other people's mistakes for years - add that to your "brickwall"  .

Only if you take any notice of them. Anyone who cares about accuracy learns very quickly not to take online trees at face value - you can see that from the comments here. I've seen plenty of howlers but they haven't had any effect on my own tree or my own brick walls.

And, I'll say it again these big organisations have a duty -

Not at all. Why do they have a duty to do anything?

[Erato]

"Not at all. Why do they have a duty to do anything?"

Exactly.  Ancestry provides raw information in the form of databases.  It is not responsible for the way its clients use the information just as the authors and publishers of 'Sea Shells of Tropical West America' [or any similar reference work] are not responsible for misidentifications made by users of the book.

[jaybelnz]

  . Very good Mike and Erato!

Jeanne

[jettejjane]

The disclaimer is already on Ancestry:

For User Provided Content, we are merely hosting and providing access as well as providing tools to post and share content, and we cannot accept any liability whatsoever with regard to such material (including with respect to its accuracy)

So they cover themselves and it is up to the user to check.

I didn't know that, learning all the time.  That's OK then.

Oh Jane don't sit on the fence, all you will get is splinters in your bum

Don't worry  iluleah have hide like a rhino cant feel a thing   I am also no stranger to the naughty step!

Very interesting comments but I think I will just watch, it is nice on the fence today, the sun is shining and the wind has gone away

Jane

[suek2075]

I think Ancestry is no more than a bit of light entertainment to many people - in the same way that we download apps or join web sites then forget about them when they no longer interest us.

There is no requirement to be a serious genealogist to join any family history site. Or even to have more than one brain cell - one might be required for the login

Maybe years of system testing has made me more sceptical than other people but I've learnt not to believe anything I read on the net until I've checked it in half a dozen places so why would family history sites be any different?

Like others I might seeth a bit sometimes (and laugh a bit sometimes) at seeing relatives included  where they don't belong but the reality is no one builds a tree to provide others with information or for posterity - there is nothing to stop people building imaginary trees of names they find interesting if that's what they feel like doing. I don't see how Ancestry or any other site can be held responsible for the vagaries (or incompetence) of its users.

[ThrelfallYorky]

As you said many posts ago, JetteJane, you know you're right - well, many of them feel the same. They "know" they're right, too.
You have said that you can take criticism for being outspoken, and enjoy it - so do, don't get worked up about it. As others have said, the Public trees are a sort of guide or help, not chiselled in stone as ultimate facts. You, or anyone else need not take any notice of them.
I think that many of us when first we joined Ancestry, spent ages rambling around trees that featured any ancestors we knew of - and possibly believed the relationships there, ... until we found something we "knew" to be wrong. That doesn't mean everything is wrong, it's "caveat emptor", let the buyer beware, don't swallow it wholesale, use it as a possibility, and check and prove carefully. We can all be wrong, both innocently, and deliberately through careless research.
There will always be "scalp collectors", and others who will still be sceptical at an original document that has been preserved under lock and key for five centuries, signed and witnessed by eleven bishops - and quite rightly.
We've many of us suffered from relatives being hijacked or adopted, misplaced or misattributed - and when it's your own mob, you feel irritated. But, as several moderators and others have said - is it worth it? Are we all just racking up posts on here in order to increase our number of posts, and make it to the higher echelons more swiftly? Surely not. (But some competitive souls might, I suppose?) So let's just bury the subject. Accept lots of trees are nuts, politely communicate with the tree-owner if you wish, don't fret if you get nowhere - pour a drink, and relax.
Oh, and have at least a year-long ban on the subject.

[Craclyn]

Since this thread is on "The Lighter Side" it will not count towards racking up posts.

[california dreamin]

No sorry Yorky - if you want to go back to the beginning of this thread you will see it was a case of  if this type of topic annoys you then avoid.  If others  want to vent their spleen then let them.

And you bet these big organisations should have a duty. I really don't think y'all are looking at the bigger picture and neither are they.  At the moment companies like Ancestry & FindMyPast are top dogs but they need to be thinking about how they can improve and provide a better service or they will lose their crown.  Okay, so you all know the pit falls and what to look out for when researching on these websites but the vast majority really do not.  Family History is now an industry it's BIG.  You can still back and accept the problems or maybe protest a bit and try and make it better for future generations.

[Mike in Cumbria]

And you bet these big organisations should have a duty. I really don't think y'all are looking at the bigger picture and neither are they.  At the moment companies like Ancestry & FindMyPast are top dogs but they need to be thinking about how they can improve and provide a better service or they will lose their crown.

That's a business decision, not a duty.