Probably An Unpopular Comment
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You make some good points, Gail. On the multiple account issue, I believe yours is the first argument I have read which goes any way in supporting a need for holding them.
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I'm not sure anyone really needs more than one account. Church members can only have one church account because it is tied to their unique church membership ID number. They can get by just fine with just that one because there is a setting that suppresses the display of all church information and makes a church account look just like a public account. While it may be convenient to not have to turn that setting on and off by having a second account, it is not necessary
The other rational I have heard is that people are concerned about accidentally displaying information about themselves or other living people in teaching situations. But anyone teaching should be familiar enough with Family Tree to be able to set their starting person to someone other than themselves.
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One of the things I love about FS is the ability to share with my cousins, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and further. We have found some cousins (2nd to be exact) that we didn't know existed. Although it is a little frustrating when people merge things that shouldn't be merged and add things that shouldn't be added, or don't add things like sources. However, I've noticed the same lack of sources and the same lack of verification in Ancestry. Personally, I love the One Tree.
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Another note to the above. I also am a professional genealogist. I never use anything "online" for my research and to keep my records. I use RootsMagic so it all stays right here at home. The internet is not always trustworthy (they say it's all secure - if you really trust "they" and who knows how long the current websites will be available. RootsMagic and my own computer are much more secure. I converted all my old paper records including the citations and have stored them on some kind of local media ever since computers first came out. Yes, I'm old. Research is always ongoing. First rule: The case is NEVER closed on genealogy. Many times I have found new facts, corrected my RootsMagic and then Family Search. If the sources are listed (and I do) all my cousins pretty much accept the changes. I have 42 first cousins and ??? unknown numbers of second and thirds. Too bad I can't correct it on Ancestry. The same multitude of cousins have posted the incorrect data on Ancestry and My Heritage and other sites. Since no one can fix it but them, it will stay wrong forever.
And I agree with whoever posted "just because it's on someone's tree on Ancestry doesn't make it valid". A personal tree on any site is just that, a personal tree. Sometimes good for hints about the data but not valid as a source.
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My thanks to the OP and all thoughtful contributors to this thread, I have learned a lot.
I am a thoughtful and well meaning person, but very new to this kind of research. I signed up with MyHeritage.com about 5 months ago based on online research of the features, more so than the underlying quality of the data. I went from barely knowing the basic info of my grand parents to having complete basic data (full names, places and dates of birth and death) for 15/16 great great grand parents, 14/32 of the next generation and some lines much much deeper than that.
I did come to realize that the amazing convenience of SmartMatches(tm) and the "extract all info" button (I never used it personally, but it just begs for misuse) comes at the cost of really poor reliability. Glaring inconsistencies blindly copied and pasted across dozens of profile copies. scores of matches, half with one birth date, half with another. Alas, my descendance from the Viking Rollo, first ruler of Normandy through King Henry the First rests on one extremely flimsy connection and a multitude of others yet to be well vetted.
Then I finally looked harder at FamilySearch. The one tree model is very appealing and I thought this is information I can rely on. But it has its flaws as well, doesn't it? At least it took me a lot less time to realize it.
So, what to do? I think we have to take the good with the bad and use all the info at hand with gratitude AND skepticism. Verify as much as possible (primary sources!) and cross check. FamilySearch is a great tool and a one tree model is a great concept.
I think my plan now is to pay for ancestry.com (first 6 months half price, seems a good offer?) since I have thus far done very little there (less to dismantle before building) I will build out my own much more carefully vetted tree without all the naïve enthusiasm I that powered my efforts at MyHeritage. I'll continue to use FamilySearch and even add and edit things where I am confident it is an improvement.
There is no silver bullet. Everything requires effort.
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@Coby50, welcome to Community.
Each platform will have strengths and weaknesses and everyone usually has a preference for how things work. I use genealogical software (RootsMagic) to do my research and then "share" what I have found with FamilySearch. There are several available for free. (You may want to check out the discussion Genealogy programs for home computers.) Ultimately you have to find what works best for you as you research your own family history.
Please do not hesitate to reach out if you need help. Good Hunting!
Maile 🙂
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