Request for links to provide to another user regarding the "unified family tree"

LFarrier

I contacted another patron who was adding GGF/GGM with a number (for example: Sir Henry Heydon GGF15 LZPS-S81) to many profiles to indicate what generation of grandparent this profile was to this particular patron. I said:

“Hello - FamilySearch’s unified family tree differs from the tree-building experience at most other websites. Instead of concentrating efforts on privately constructing their own individual trees, FamilySearch tree builders cooperate to build a single, shared tree that helps you and others discover more about ancestors and other family members. Adding suffixes such as "GGM" "GGF" etc. in the title name fields therefore does not apply since this is a public, unified family tree. These people have thousands of living descendants and if we all put such a note, the profile would no longer be usable. Please go back and remove the suffixes as they do not apply to everyone on our shared family tree.”

He has contacted me back requesting (among other things) “1. please send me a document describing - "FamilySearch’s unified family tree " that you want to impose on others on this "shared tree". He has sent me several messages and is very unhappy with my request. 

For resources so far I have:

https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/online-family-tree 

Can anyone recommend any other sources I can share with this user regarding the shared unified tree model?

TIA!

Julia Szent-Györgyi

Start with Family Tree - Overview (https://www.familysearch.org/tree/overview). Granted, you have to scroll down a little, but it says: "Those who start a Family Tree on FamilySearch aren't just piecing together their family story—they're contributing to the creation of a global, unified family tree for mankind."

Gordon Collett

Don't know if this will help, but this help center article: https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-to-enter-names-in-family-tree discusses the use of the Title and Suffix fields:

Put each part of the name in the correct field

• Title—Use Title for words like “Count” or “Mister.” You can leave the title field blank. 
• First Names—Enter the first and middle names. Put nicknames in the “Other Information” section.
• Last Names—Enter the family name or surname. If a woman changed her surname after marriage, enter her maiden name. If the person has no last name, leave the Last Name field blank.
• Suffix—Enter words like “Jr.” or “Sr.,” or a Roman numeral. For example, John Smith III. You can leave the field blank. 

You could point out that these specifically describe these fields as being for parts of a person's name, not random information.

You could also point out that we should not put wrong information in Family Tree. Looking at your example:

you could stress that for 78 of the 79 contributors to this profile, GGF15 is likely wrong.

Then, of course, there are the Terms Of Use that no one ever reads at: https://www.familysearch.org/legal/terms . Here is an extracte of items pertinent to your discussion:

Licenses and Rights Granted to Us

In exchange for your use of this site and/or our storage of any data you submit, you hereby grant us with an unrestricted, fully paid-up, royalty-free, worldwide, irrevocable, sublicensable, and perpetual license to use any and all information, content, and other materials (collectively, “Contributed Content”) that you submit or otherwise provide to this site (including, without limitation, genealogical data, images, writings, documents, materials, recordings, discussions, information, and data relating to deceased persons or anything else) for any and all purposes, in any and all manners, and in any and all forms of media that we, in our sole discretion, deem appropriate for the furtherance of our mission to promote family history and genealogical research. As part of this license, you give us permission to copy, publicly display, transmit, broadcast, publicly perform, distribute, and otherwise use (and allow others to use) your Contributed Content throughout the world, by any means we deem appropriate (electronic or otherwise, including on the Internet). You also understand and agree that as part of this license, we have the right to create (and to allow others to create) and use derivative works from your Contributed Content by combining all or a portion of it with that of other contributors or by otherwise modifying your Contributed Content.

Collaboration with Others

You acknowledge that a primary purpose of this site is to enable collaboration between users of this site and other sites who wish to expand their genealogical databases and knowledge. You acknowledge that we may utilize Contributed Content, including any personal information of living individuals, that you submit for the purpose of collaborating and sharing with other individuals and organizations (including commercial genealogical organizations) in order, for example, to create a global common pedigree for the purposes of increasing participation in family history and preserving records throughout the world. You acknowledge that collaboration between multiple individuals and organizations allows us to obtain additional data that we may provide to users of this site—thus allowing users to extend their own ancestral lines. Our  Privacy Notice provides more details regarding our use of your Contributed Content.

You agree to input data accurately to the best of your knowledge... Please refer to the Code of Conduct section for an outline of possible consequences for the improper entry of data.

This site includes a discussion feature in which individuals can comment and otherwise provide Contributed Content regarding a particular deceased individual and provide details regarding that individual. .... The discussion feature is intended to help collaboration efforts, to coordinate the correction of errors, and to facilitate additional research with other interested users.... Disagreements regarding facts pertaining to a deceased individual are likely to occur, and such disagreements should be set out in clear terms based on the facts and citing sources where possible, without resorting to abrupt, insulting, or unkind language or comments... (emphasis added)

Basically the first paragraph means that once you hit the Save key for any piece of data you enter, it is no longer yours and anyone can use it or edit it as they see fit. The second paragraph pretty much just states that we are to be polite and not fight about this but also mentions the Global Common Pedigree that is not ours but that we work on together to improve with accurate facts not with personal codes and flags that have meaning only for one person.

LFarrier

@Julia Szent-Györgyi Thank you!

LFarrier

@Gordon Collett Thank you so much!

Áine Ní Donnghaile

I had one not long ago who thought the First Names block should be modified from "Thomas" to "Thomas - wife Esther Bardsley - ." And another who thought that was a good place to add, after the given names, "my 6 cousin."