A year and a half ago, the only thing I knew about genealogy was - literally - that it was an activity of people who were interested in finding out about their ancestors. I thought they started from what they knew from family stories and tried to find more by searching for official documents and records.
Everything I have learned since then is courtesy of the wonderful WikiTree community. Members have encouraged me, generously shared their amazing expertise, and patiently put up with my naivete. After learning my way around the technical aspects of WikiTree, I have attempted to pay back a teensy modicum of all that has been given to me here by contributing technical expertise in response to G2G questions. I also tried my best to contribute to tree improvements, as I was learning how to research and write well sourced profiles. The result was that I accumulated (what I describe as) an obscene number of G2G points, which led to people assuming that I know all kinds of stuff about which I am still clueless and I found myself explaining that all those points came from asking so many questions and expressing so many opinions.
As I became more involved in the community here, WikiTree has become so much more for me than simply a genealogy repository. I love that all the members are so dedicated to correctness in stating facts, explaining inconsistencies, researching to resolve same, sensitive to feelings of family members when deciding what information to include in profiles and how to state it, and always respectful of other WikiTree members. Perhaps most of all, I love that everyone embraces the concept of collaboration.
My immersion in WikiTree activities expanded naturally. Projects came first - as I learned to write profiles by adopting an entire large and empty abandoned gedcom, I joined the Profile Improvement Project. When many members of this family turned out to have been caught up in the Holocaust, I helped start that project and became its coordinator. When the Unknowns project started, it was irresistible to the data geek that I am. I learned about the uses of categories and touched the tip of the iceberg of their complex organization. I am in great awe of the knowledge and capabilities of Categorization project members and was looking forward to someday being competent to join that project (ditto for pre-1700 certification, for which I don't yet feel competent).
Despite all my gushing about the wonders of everything about WikiTree, I have had three bad experiences here, all involving sysops. All three have the common ending of my feeling that valuable contributions of which I am capable and desirous of making have been rejected. The first one, which occurred immediately after I joined, I chalked up to my lack of knowledge of how things work here. The second instance did not directly impact the work of WikiTree - it was a web application I had developed to serve as a starting point for Rangers to collaborate to identify communication needs. That experience led to my adopting the attitude of "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" and I made the decision to never again offer my assistance with system improvements.
A couple of weeks ago I was blindsided again. With no prior contact from anyone, an emergency block was placed on my account by a sysop (who has only been identified to me as “a sysop”). This action, which I understand as the means of preventing further damage when someone is suspected of vandalizing our tree, was taken because I filed a dozen MIR’s (in accordance with the WikiTree prescribed procedure for such a situation) to report instances I discovered of profiles that should be unlisted but were not. As a result of this having been done, compounded by having been told that the block had been immediately removed when it was still in effect for the better part of a day afterward, and complete lack of communication before, during, and after this episode, I am thoroughly ashamed of having allowed myself to be duped again after having previously become aware of the "do as I say, not as I do" way some sysops comport themselves.
My initial impulse was to make a scathing post in G2G about the apparent double standard of behavior required of members and that condoned for sysops but, still determined to conduct myself in accordance with the WikiTree standards for members (namely DWWA), I allowed myself some cooling off time. Now, two weeks later, I am over the fury of my initial reaction, however I see only one possible course of action I can take to ensure that this is the final such episode to which I will risk exposure. I have made a painful decision to no longer actively participate in the community and work on all the general profile and tree improvement.
As of now, I am one of the vast majority of members who only work on their own families. I will orphan all the remaining profiles in the abandoned gedcom I adopted (there are about 300 that I have not yet gotten to, about 400 on which I have made a start, and about 500 on which I have done my best and already orphaned). I will resign from all projects with which I am associated (which includes trashing the planning I have already done for this year's April Holocaust Demolition Derby). I will also no longer feel comfortable weighing in on questions or discussions related to technical aspects of using WikiTree, internet issues, or anything about computer use. I greatly regret any impact this may have on all the members who have so generously shared their knowledge with me and with whom I have so enjoyed collaborating. If you send me a private message with a question or request for which I can provide any assistance (including editing of graphics), I will happily respond, but please do not expect to see any further posts from me in G2G.
Please know that I will miss losing the daily contact with y'all that I have come to enjoy so very much and one final thank you to all the members who frequent G2G and have become friends in the process of collaborating.
