The admins on the FamilySearch Facebook page are most likely volunteers. Unfortunately one of them has a royal fixation. If you go to the original threads you'll see that these posts brought out the clickophiles.
The original post the September 27th is here with the caption,
"Admit it… you're actually from a royal bloodline.
Which royal family have you found in your ancestry?"
The original post from September 25th is here with the caption,
"Do you have a #familycrest? Share it with us!"
It is incredibly disappointing that FamilySearch, a genealogical icon, is perpetuating myths rather than educating its users.
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The original post the September 27th is here with the caption,
"Admit it… you're actually from a royal bloodline.
Which royal family have you found in your ancestry?"
The original post from September 25th is here with the caption,
"Do you have a #familycrest? Share it with us!"
It is incredibly disappointing that FamilySearch, a genealogical icon, is perpetuating myths rather than educating its users.
PREVIOUS POST: Bizarro Genealogy World
NEXT POST: Apologies Only Go So Far
RELATED POST: Royal Obsession, Downward Spiral
Oh my! First the government shut-down and now this!! And volunteers??? Could explain a lot. Sometimes I feel like a "user" as I keep renewing my Ancestry subscription. An addict that's hooked on a product. Many, many (too many) years ago in Psych class, I learned that intermittent rewards help people persist in a habit better than continuous rewards. It was the signature by my great, great grandfather (and STILL my worst brick wall) on his 1867 oath, in GA, to the U.S. government (well, that and a few other things that trickle out here and there ) that will probably keep me renewing my Ancestry subscription over my better judgement.
ReplyDeleteWhile the 'keeping an addict hooked' view is absolutely true it's also true that keeping the subscription may be giving you tunnel vision. I was just reading this on the Got Genealogy? page on Facebook and it applies perfectly ;-)
DeleteLife After Ancestry - More than two months have passed since I decided to not renew my annual subscription to ancestry. com and my research life is better than ever, in several ways:
1) My bank account is happy... almost $300 happier;
2) I've discovered dozens of useful Web sites, each chock full of data not found on Ancestry or anywhere else online;
3) My twice-weekly visits to my local public libraries (to use Ancestry's FREE library edition) gets me out of the house, walking more, getting exercise, meeting new people and has helped me discover local history resources of which I was previously unaware;
4) Getting out of my home office, into the library environment, has jump-started my creative juices. Independent studies have shown that changing your physical environment can have a major impact on HOW you think/create.
5) I'm missing ancestry less and less each day.
Before the "split," I relied on ancestry for, probably, 80% of my online research. It was easy to use, the search engine was the best in the marketplace, and I knew enough about Ancestry's shortcomings to get around spelling and transcription errors. In essence, I knew ancestry like the back of my hand.
After the "split," every single day, I discover new ways and places to find information online.
EXAMPLE: Philadelphia death certificates - Both ancestry and familysearch have the same database, "Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915," which is nice, but I needed to find a PHL death in the 1930s. Had I still been an ancestry subscriber, I'd have figured that 1915 was the latest year available and would have probably given up hope of EASILY finding my needed death cert. But NOW, post-ancestry, I search differently, and as a result, I discovered that the the Pennsylvania Dept of public health provides online indices for deaths between 1906-1962, sparing me the need to do a multi-year request.
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1085804&mode=2
There are sooooo many great options out there, exclusive of ancestry, and I'm enjoying discovering and exploring them.
I find it hysterical that there are still people foolish enough out there to believe that because they bought it online or someplace else that it is "real". And I am ashamed that a group that are supposed to promote true family history such as Family Search are perpetuating this garbage.
ReplyDeleteWell as the old saying goes... "There's a sucker born every minute." (unknown quote - NOT P.T. Barnum)