GenealogyWise – Ask & It Shall Be Given?!

Just a mere 6 days ago, Mavis {aka NCChemist} & I had a Tweetersation {yes, I just created my own word!:-} about the virtues of utilizing Facebook for Genealogy purposes.

Although not quite convinced that I wanted my Facebook & Genealogy worlds to meet {being a “Techie”, I live in the land of WWW daily & consider Genealogy “MY” time!}, I have to admit after hearing from Mavis how cool it was to connect with long-lost cousins, I was at least thinking about it!

We netted with my commenting, “maybe if there were just a way for me to separate my Genealogy connects in a Facebook environment…”.

Then Voila… 2 days later, www.GenealogyWise.com goes live & my “prayer” is answered!:-)

Now why am I sooooooo stoked that GenealogyWise is on the scene? A Techie’s point of view…

1. It’s complete with tried n’ true functionality we’re accustomed to with Facebook, but minus the profile overlap some of us may experience if we use FB for professional and/or personal reasons! Do I REALLY want my Corporate client to read about my belief that my Ancestors guide me in digging-up family history? I think not!:-)
2. It’s built on the Ning platform, which delivers ALL the Social Media bells n’ whistles that I love! It also makes me eat my words that Ning isn’t really capable of supporting a mega-community. As we can see – it obviously is!:-)
3. It’s well-funded by FamilyLink.com, which I know for some of you may be an issue. You don’t want big-business owning such personal communities, right? WRONG – you do! We, Genealogists {along with every other online consumer}, are pretty demanding & needy. You want a community that is adequately supported so that their growth can be seamless. Take this from a girl who had a fantastic idea but lacked the deep-pockets to run it, success is short-lived without the finances to keep it going!:-(
4. It’s viral – contagious man! GenealogyWise membership grew to approx. 1500 members in – ONE DAY! Heck, at Midnight, there were still had 120 researchers online! What this means for us is there’s a greater opportunity to connect with other genealogists who may hold the key to knocking down our brick walls – quickly.
5. They (GenealogyWise) need us, Facebook doesn’t. What this means is that we can be heard! Woo-hoo! Don’t hesitate to let them know what’s missing! Now is the time!

So what do I want from GenealogyWise?

* Help. Help in outreaching the African-American community so that they are represented & participating in the online GW community. Yes, I am asking that GW go out of its way to build a community that is diverse & balanced. Really, GW should be establishing partnerships with LowCountry Africana, AfriQuest, Afrigeneas & any other ethnic {not just Black} community out there. DIVERSITY is KEY!

* Widget & Tool Integration. I want a Social Media Share Bar, to share my GW activity across platforms – Twitter, Digg, LinkedIn, etc… I’ll admit, this functionality could already exist, I haven’t explored the site totally but since I’m asking…

* Profile Flexibility. We should be able to add multiple websites/blogs & what about other profile/IDS? Shouldn’t we be able to include who we are in other places on the web? Ala, Twitter = OurGeorgiaRoots!

All in all I am thrilled that GenealogyWise is live & rocking and forever grateful, that I can keep my genealogy addiction to myself {sans Facebook} for sharing when I want to!

Rock on!:-)

Luckie Daniels