Re-linking Families

I consider myself very lucky to have sixteen first cousins and even more second cousins whom I know personally. Yet I often get the sinking feeling that there have to be more out there. I knew my grandfather had started a tree of his family with this information, but it was in print and I had never seen it.

One of my cousins offered to help Papa with the tree -- but he wanted to transfer it online.

Now, my dad's family history is on Geni.com. Geni started in 2007 as a wiki family tree, in which users build a family tree and can invite relatives to the site to collaborate. Users who sign up with an account may add family who are not Geni users, and the users become the "managers" of those profiles. For example, my cousin had to invite me to Geni in association with my entry in order for me to edit my profile and work on the tree.

Geni features a message inbox that adds a level of social networking to the website. The CEO of Geni, Noah Tutak, explains here how he was able to use Geni to learn about and reconnect with his deceased father's family. 

A screenshot from my Geni tree, with my entry indicated by the arrow

I feel like I know family I have never met in person because of this website. Just yesterday, I received a phone call from a second cousin about meeting for the first time. Her profile (wisely) does not show a birth date, but I know the names of her husband and children as well as when she was married. Finding out this way is much easier than calling my lovely but talkative great aunt for the scoop. I somehow know my cousin already, without ever having met her. All this info stays within the family, so there is a sense of security in imparting such private information.

Geni goes into greater depth with more ease than a traditional family tree. Photographs can be added easily to profiles. Clicking on someone's entry takes you to their profile and tells you how exactly you are related. The program is able to compile information such as number of blood relatives, ancestors, and normal relatives that would be very tedious to do manually. Geni sends me email updates about birthdays, new additions, and changes to my family tree. Altering an online tree is so much simpler than editing a traditional tree. 

Most significantly, I think, is that a family's Geni tree cannot be destroyed. While my grandfather's physical files, papers, photographs, and master copy of his tree can be ruined, the Geni tree exists online. Essentially, there are infinite copies of the tree. I or one of my relatives on the site can log in from any computer to share with anyone we choose. The problem of having only one copy which has to be dug out from a file box in your grandfather's closet is negated. It is safer and easier to share family history with Geni.

Geni promises a degree of permanence that makes me wonder, should I fill in my profile more? Would my grandchildren like to have access to a comprehensive record of my life, complete with timeline and photographs? I, myself, treasure old photographs, so I think I might.