@ Germain Doucet, Sieur de La Verdure

Hi Reno,

Well said!

I have quit using Geni for precisely the reason you explained. I had numerous collaborators tying knots in the tree that would require days, not hours, to correct.

Sad, isn't it? Such potential!

TJ and Reno,

While I agree with on the principle ideas that you have stated, I have to ask, 'did you attempt to contact those connected to these profiles in questions and work through the issues?' That is the idea of collaboration. One cannot just think everyone will automatically be on the same boat. Contact those with information that you 'think' to be incorrect and ask them where they obtained the information and if they have any backup. They may have some information that you don't. Only then can you discount their information as incorrect. Work together!

While facts are important, even there you will find discrepancies in dates, spellings, etc. Without hard evidence, any of this will be hard to prove. Even recorded documents contain discrepancies. So to say something is 100% accurate is virtually impossible, and to say that your information is better than the other, well that is debatable. Collaborate and discuss.

I fully appreciate your idea that there have been come foolish merges. Children married to their parents, etc. I have attempted to right a few occasions where sons with the same name of their fathers have been merged together, resulting in a son married his mother. Attempt to contact the person that is responsible for doing this and explain the error, only then might you be guaranteed that this person will not do the same merge again. However, one cannot fully discount the idea that brothers and sisters did not marry on occasion as well as cousins, etc. Anything is possible. Just recently while I was living in Holland a woman married herself. So yes, anything is possible.

Geni does have loads of potential, but if you are not willing to work together to come close to a consensus on information stated, then perhaps this is not the forum you should be participating.

If you have a problem with someone, call them out. Work with them.

COLLABORATE!

Joel,
I have no problem with working with anyone to reach the right conclusions. Even amongst the real "pros" there remains instances of intellectual differences. As new evidence comes to light, prior established knowledge may have to be reversed. Just recently, I lost a 6th g-father to new information, and he took 4 generations with him !!!!!
What I object to mostly is people merging names that appear to be the same. Especially when they are not related and know nothing about the family or it's history. 4th cousin of a 5th cousin removed 29 times is not considered a relative.
I've sent numerous messages asking for confirmation or pointing out obvious mistakes, even quoting my sources, with no replies. Heck, 1 person even copied several books pertaining to that individual, showing where he was wrong, and still put down the wrong info.
I don't care if your your info is from a Gedcom, at least try to find a few that support the same story. Then try to understand what you are reading. If you don't understand French, or German, or whatever, find someone that does.
Pertaining to genealogy on the internet, there is an abundance of groups specializing in family history or local history, and I find these groups knowledgeable and eager to help anyone...for free... But it does require you to spend time and research.
I've undone a few of my merges that were not complete. After thinking about it, I decided that no merge should be completed unless all the info mathches. I am not a "Geni Pro" and cannot edit at will. I will continue to support merges and help wherever I can, as long as ALL the information matches. I am always open to discussions as well as sharing facts and sources with any relative.

Reno Rossignol

Wow, that was not very supportive or helpful.

Countless members of my family - that I researched and typed into GENI - have ended up being owned by other people without my knowledge or consent. (Someone actually deleted several of my family members!)

I have become the owner of people that (A) I had never heard of, and (B) did not want, and (C) had no clue how or if they were actually connected to me in any way at all.

At one point I had several hundred merge issues. It would have taken many months, at a minimum, to go through every detail with the various owners. Often times even when I have gone through the verification and merge process, I got a message saying that I didn't have authority to do that merge.

SO WHY WAS I NOTIFIED THAT - I - HAD A MERGE ISSUE?

Geni has a number of issues to resolve. Many of those issues seem to be extraordinarily low on their priority list. That's why I let me Pro status lapse.

TJ
I've run into the same problems. Fortunately I never had the merge issues, I've only got 12, and they are all from the same family. The reason I guess is because most of the info has been researched, and in the case of the older generations where I am having problems now, someone else has claimed ownership. So, I guess it's their problem now. I've had to cut loose of several "friends" and "collaborators" because they were mostly leeches looking to have the biggest tree. I'm afraid that that is what's happening to Geni. People have lost sense of "family" and are rapidly scooping up names to become the largest or most famous, regardless of the damage they may cause real family trees.

Reno Rossignol

Reno, well I for one am also sorry that this is happening, I too have been notified that some of my profiles have been deleted! And I also am "manager" of a profile, along with 47 others! How ridiculous is this going to get before something happens with the bigwigs? I have also been asked to merge only to find out I don't have permission to complete it. Fortunately, I only have 12 merge issues and they are from one snotty person, Sharon Orcutt Peters, who has 'blocked' me, because I am dating her cousin, and she is a control freak, and would rather screw up the tree and hold tight to her profiles, than act like an adult, and finish the merges. She has some 'rantings' going on in a family discussion, that she thinks I can't 'see', but I can through someone else's profile, so I know what she is up to. apparently she ain't the PRO that she thinks she is! ;-)