Wikitree thoughts

Question

I've been with Wikitree for about 6 years now, it use to fun entering names and researching.  In the past year or so I have noticed a change in Wikitree, some for the good and some not.
Help:How to Use WikiTree:

“The first thing to know: WikiTree is all about genealogy collaboration. We work together. This isn't always easy, but we're a friendly bunch.”

I have noticed the Wikitree has become political and what appears to be many clicks, some people that believe somehow that they are in the higher echelon of the pecking order of WikiTree.

People volunteer their time to enter data into this site, they are not paid to enter this data.  Some of the messages and mail from folks can be pretty demanding and rude.  They don’t take the time to see if you created a profile or adopted it, just a message that this profile doesn’t live up to their standards. 

It appears to me that these higher echelon groups and people think as though we are getting paid to enter this data and have to obey their demands.   I think the last end of the statement we’re a friendly bunch is a past tense and might need to changed.

I do not find the experience of using Wikitree as enjoyable as it once was.

Comments

I also agree with Roland. When I started my tree, it was because I felt that I have finally found a way to discover my ancestors. I've had a lot of help for which I am sincerely grateful, but every now and then some superior genealogist target one of my profiles and make me feel small and inadequate. Of course I have an emotional reaction and just want to forget about the whole thing, leave it to the 'professionals' who indeed seem to belong to the higher echelon group. I have to agree that we need to adhere to the standards but maybe, just maybe, some of us learn more slowly than others and are here because of the personal interest we have in discovering the details of those who've gone before us. To us those names and profiles are more than just entries on some family tree...

Answer 1

Interesting you say that. An extremely distant relations I met here who has not been very active here for some months commented to me at the weekend that she felt there was a hierarchy and only some people's input was valued. She had volunteered for a role but was turned down, supposedly because she was deemed critical and had a bad attitude to a change. It's our loss. Luckily, she is still maintaining her profiles.

Answer 2

>>  and people think as though we are getting paid to enter this data and have to obey their demands

Isnt the problem that WikiTree has had no quality checking for many years and the quality is below what is acceptable if you care you dont enter a mother born after a child... etc....

If people will spend time "cleaning" such a mess I can accept that they get bored and just would like to do it...

I guess if you have well researched and well written profiles you get more friendly help as then you show that you care about Wikitree .... its a give and take I guess and hope

Comments

Magnus, I adopted a distant relative's Gedcom import when she decided to leave Wikitree. It has taken me a long time to update it and I'm not done yet. I obviously started with those who were closest to me and I knew where to start. I have received criticisms from a few people about profiles I didn't create but adopted and haven't yet improved them. I do wish people would look at the history of a profile before criticizing it. And in a few cases, had they been pleasant about it, I likely would have suggested they adopt the profile in question and I leave it be.

I agree, WikiTree is not quite the user friendly place it once was. I think all these competitions are a part of it. I appreciate the miniscule changes others make to profiles I manage (and are adoptees), but they often come  with unhelpfulness, too.

Answer 3

I hate to say it but I have to agree with Roland 100% and some who are saying we have poor quality are adding some of the poorest quality sources in an effort to "fix"  or "connect" profiles in a big hurry. Quality takes time and should not be done in haste.

Answer 4

Hi Roland, I hear you. I can't speak for anyone else but I can say that I value and respect everyone in this community equally. I appreciate the fact that you are here and the enormous contributions you make to this community.

On another note, I have a dear friend who is the wife of a potato farmer on P.E.I. Such a beautiful part of the world. Do you live there or have you visited? Not to mention of course Anne of Green Gables...

Susie :-)

Answer 5

Slightly different take:  I've been here about the same length of time as Roland.  I really haven't experienced rude and demanding messages, but I can somewhat relate to the observations about "office politics" and pecking order.  Over those years, however, the site grew substantially, and it gradually became more and more clear that there was a need to bring some level of order and discipline to the endeavor of creating a single tree.  If it was to succeed, you couldn't just let it become a huge, out of control free-for-all.  So I wonder how much of what you're seeing is attributable to growing pains, and just encountering more people whose style turns you off, rather than intentional "elitism."  Probably it doesn't even matter as far as enjoyment goes, but it's just a thought.

Comments

Dennis, I had one person tell me that my profiles were not good enough because the did not use templates or inline references. I do not like templates and put the sources at the bottom until I write a half way decent biography, it is a little hard to use inline references with no biography, but I still got called out for this and I have been here since August of 2013,

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Well, that sort of comment is obviously uncalled for, and I hope it's the exception rather than the rule.  That reviewer apparently hasn't looked at my work yet, since I only have about half of my early profiles updated to use inline sources.  But when my day comes, I will have no qualms about advising the reviewer to post his or her comment in a place where the doesn't shine, and I won't miss a beat.

Answer 6

Well, I don't notice any cliques other than people working together / providing leadership.  I started out asking bunches of questions, followed with answering bunches of questions and now spend most all my time applying what I've learned.  Being naturally shy, I tend to minimize direct communications but do like reading threads here on G2G and usually learn things from them.  I remember seeing people who got the 1000 badge most every month and thought, "How do they do it?"  But I've worked out a system and can get 1000 robust contributions any time I want.  Anyway, if you see clique, think "source of improvement of my profiles" and if you see hierarchy think "people who let me not have to spend time doing things I'd rather not".

Answer 7

Understand your point and as a mentor, you are not the only one that feels that way.   I regularly point people....who have been around for a long time....to our Honor Code and the statement    This grand project requires mutual trust and a common understanding of how the community works.   

Like in ANY community there are all kinds of personalities and more importantly, there are a lot of people where English is not there first language.   I still believe that the majority of this community is friendly, and remember when you have issues with other members, please use the Problems with Members process.