The original purpose of Geni

Alternative wording could be -
"The original purpose of Geni was to create a World Tree, connecting everyone on earth through smaller, interconnected trees. Each family becomes invested in the site and its accuracy, as the World Tree Grows family information is shared. family member with family member and family with family."

Terry. Making the profile Private means that it is visible to the family only, which defeats the purpose of what we are trying to achieve. We HAVE made them Private as a consequence, which means they are useless to other members.

The members changing the profiles are not even vaguely connected to the family, but are part of a growing number (that Hatte has mentioned more than once) that poke around the tree.

Ken, yes, I didn't say making profliles private was a good idea just a way of stopping people editing uninvited. Another way is to ask if a curator will MP & lock it! Only really an option if they are historical.

Justin – You said, in your first posting in this thread, directed to me – “it will be interesting to see if other old-timers like you also believe that Geni originally intended to allow private trees.“ BUT – I never said I believed Geni ORIGINALLY intended to allow SEPARATE private trees. By reading that into all I have been saying, you have been misreading repeatedly.

Would everybody who believes I said that please go back and re-read.
Do you see anything in my postings, and the info and links I quote, that is incompatible with "Private trees that blend upwards into the public Big Tree ..." (as Ken so nicely phrased it)?

Not sure I understand your point, Lois. Maybe, sort of.

I said, ""The original purpose of Geni was to create a World Tree, connecting everyone on earth."

You said, "there is no excuse for such a blatant inaccuracy."

I've been reading your comments in that context. There is nothing in my statement that suggests private tress wouldn't blend upwards. I don't want to misinterpret you, but I think you're having to insert "clarifying" words in order to create a disagreement.

Do you think the issue is the place where the private, family tree meets the Big Tree? Does it meet too early for some people? I know that personally I had issues with people with a very distant, convoluted relationship editing my 6th - 8th great grandparents and further asking to be made co-manager of that entire line to my great grandfather!

There's a place where we accept that hundred or thousands of us on Geni are descendants and that the ancestors are shared, but in generations closer to us, especially those with a lot of family lore, we're more protective.

And frankly, some people do not understand that they are no more nor no less the descendant of some Colonial American figure, for example, than another descendant.

Justin - not sure what you are asking/ what you mean by "having to insert "clarifying" words in order to create a disagreement"

A totally different analogy might help. If I ask someone to create a brownie which is both gluten-free and nut-free - this is not the same as a goal to create a brownie which is gluten-free. If I just focus on/ask for a gluten-free brownie - perhaps they will use a nut-flour or add nuts - or perhaps they will avoid nuts. Similarly, if I state the goal as just a brownie which is nut free, there is no reason to expect the end product to be gluten-free. In order to be sure it is both gluten-free and nut-free, I have to articulate both goals.

Geni has TWO GOALS - if we state One of the Goals as the only goal - then this seriously increases the chances that only that goal, and not the other as well, will be met.

Hatte - re: "Do you think the issue is the place where the private, family tree meets the Big Tree? Does it meet too early for some people?"

These are very valid, important questions in the working out of HOW we can best accomplish the two goals to everyone's satisfaction. However, the point I was making was simply that there were two goals, so it is wrong to make statements that indicate or state that there was only one.. (Most of my postings were trying to demonstrate the existence and equal importance of both goals. I try to challenge /correct any statements I see stating 'the goal of Geni is' or 'the goal of Geni was' because not only is it inaccurate, but I fear it majorly increases the chances that only that goal will be focused on and the other will not be met.) (The statement I was addressing was about the past, hence the use of past tense.)

HOW the two goals are met is a separate question.

Whether to meet the two goals by allowing separate trees or by having "Private trees that blend upwards into the public Big Tree" or by allowing separate views / permissions on what is seen (the ability to set Documents either Public or Private and the fact that the box for "Memories" and comments in that box are only visible to the extended family are two steps in that direction) or some completely different way or some combination of ways -- these are all part of possible solutions to HOW - a separate question from what I was trying to address!

Maybe there's a core point I'm not following, but to me (don't shoot me) it's one goal - a shared family tree that "blends upward" into the world family tree.

One cousin in a group might be the "family archivist," looking after current events. Another (or the same!) is a "connector," reaching out to current generation more distant cousins and collating their information. Another (or the same!) visits cemeteries; another studies a historical period ...

Through an online service these varied activities in family research are collaborated on together in a media rich environment.

Isn't that the gist of the original announcements.? I see everything else as refinements of the tools to accomplish the goal.

Yes, Erica. That's how I read it. I'm struggling to see it another way. It seems to me that it would be just as easy to argue that one of the original purposes of Geni was to share family photos, or that one of the original purposes was to connect with relatives, or be reminded of family birthdays, etc.

All good and noble purposes, but all essentially subsets of the main goal of connecting the world.

"Geni is a genealogy and social networking website".

These are the two goals to which I'm sure Lois is referring. This is the opening sentence in Geni's own Wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geni.com

The social side seems to be well-used - you will have seen messages intended for the family accidentally misposted to this forum.

Justin. I'm assuming from the title of this discussion that you're looking for a lead-in to your 'Intro to Geni' project.

The originators of Geni got the concept from LinkedIn, and assumed it would grow in a similar manner - based on family links, not business links.

A better phrase might be 'where LinkedIn meets genealogy'.

Ken, I hadn't thought of doing an Intro to Geni project. Might be fun. What would we put there?