Find Ancestors

I wonder if it's more people like me, who joined many many years ago and now instead of filling the boards with questions, i'm trawling the boards finding people answers.

Could it just be we have matured with the boards and now we have the knowledge to find, we have lost the joy in looking?

There is definately a lull in requests, but i do personally think that as a site gets older and wiser, so do the users... when we all joined suddenly together we were all struggling together.... now we are all seasoned searchers we sit silently in wait !

I definately personally love doing the Q by Q search's finding data that hasn't been found yet (Transcribed) i love that part of finding people. I love finding a marriage, then the children, the grandchildren 'til i can find someone on the Electoral roll and then give someone the address (I tend not to send telephone numbers) of a long lost sister, brother, mother..... that for me is where the joy is....

Now if only i was able to travel back in time and ask some pretty crucial questions to some of my fella's ancestors i'd be a happier person !!!... and his tree wouldn't have so many holes!!!

Tracey

I wonder if it has something to do with stories that appear on the sucess board? someoone posted to say they started yesterday and found a family member that gave them their tree back to 1674!.

Could it be that a lot of new people joining now are finding others that have already done the research? don't see the fun in that myself

Hi everyone,

Sorry I disappeared last night - son needed the computer (it's his, not mine).

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels the same. I really feel that the site is more a social networking site these days rather than serious genealogy (although I have no room to talk as I'm not really doing my own family research any more). I do go onto the General board now and again, but even though I've used the site since not long after it started I still feel like a stranger on there and prefer the Record Office and Tips boards.

I tend to just come on the site for half an hour at a time now - but I used to be here from 8 in the morning until about 10 minutes before hubby came home from work at 5 o'clock. I often think of not renewing my subscription - but then think that £10 a year isn't that much, even if I don't use the site as often as I did, so I'll probably keep renewing.

Kath. x

I have been on here for four years and can remember the boards moving quick as a flash of lightening, we use to be up in the early hours on general boards playing quizzes and having debates.
The trying to find board was more for people looking for help finding long lost relatives rather than lookup,s. Now the records board hardly moves.
There certainly not as many people on here as there was when i started 4 years ago, i come on have a look to see who is about ,i do not post much not like i use too, it certainly not the same anymore .
Tracy

Gerri ................ I hate doing those q by q searches ........... in fact I rarely do do them!

It seems that we are all in agreement that there is less work for us to do.


Now ...... does this mean that fewer people are using GR to search for their relations, do they not realise these boards are here, or are they just paying extra to access the censuses etc that GR offers?


sylvia

Oh my God Gerri

if you are that bored I have a birth that requires searching Q by Q :)

Are you the one that was looking for Matilda or am I getting you confused with someone else?

Gerri

You must have the patience of a saint!......I hate doing index trawls at the best of times, even for my own lot :)

Chris

Heaven forbid i offend anyone but i have to agree with Sylvia in Canada...

'there are a lot more people having threads offering look-ups'

I was so bored earlier i did a 20 year search for a Marriage! lol
Found it.....eventually but smoked myself stupid lol..(cough!)

Gerri

Reg GR give the impression that all you need to do is join & your "Hotmatches" will do the rest!

The snag with that wretched programme is that it gives the uninitiated the ridiculous impression that finding 200 years of family history - fully documented - takes only a few hours!

Reg

Is there a new series of WDYTYA due?

That usually livens things up for a while :)

I wonder if the London show in May will have the same affect? I can't remember if it did last year.

Chris

Kath it's got quieter in the short time that I've been venturing on to Records.

Sylvia you could be right about people using the threads offering to do lookups, lots of really, really old threads of this type get dug up from time to time. Nothing against the folk that put up this type of thread but I always feel that a few pairs of eyes on a problem are better than one.

Reg I agree TTF is just a mess, if GR specified clearly what each board should be used for life would be so much easier.

Untranscribed BMD's I'm afraid I just explain what's involved & suggest they take out Ancestry subs although I've been shocked to see lookup requests answered on minors.

I have gone as far as I can with my tree and for the last couple of years I have logged on to this site just to help others with their research but as you are all saying it is dieing a slow death so will probably not bother renewing my membership when it runs out

Roy

I've been around for a few years, and remember well how the boards used to be.

It was lunacy on GR's part to 'thread' the trying to find board.

I never look at it..................

Nowadays there is an abundance of people asking for lookups for bmd info for the years not covered by the transcribed records...........usually with absolutely no clue as to which year the event occurred...........they just seem unaware of what is involved in such searches..............

There seems also to be an increase in the number of people who ask for help..........and never bother to look at the info..............

You might gather from this that I'm somewhat disillusioned.........

I think it's changed since the Chat turned into another General board (if you get what I mean)
Late at night I often pop in just to see if anyone wants a look up but these days after 12ish it's as dead as a dodo.

One other thing


there are a lot more people having threads offering look-ups


I wonder if people wanting help go on those threads rather than posting on the open board??


Just a thought



sylvia

Hi Lisa


I haven't found your threads yet!! lol


I do know a lot of the "oldies" have left, they lost interest or were frustrated at what was happening a few months ago.

There is a lot of activity on the TTF ..... but so much of it is almost incoherent. I'm not really being rude, but some of the threads are really difficult to understand, and they provide so little information on which to work.


Now to go and see if I can find your threads!!!



sylvia

I thought it was just me!!


I'm usually on here late in the evening or during the night UK time ....... 'cos I live in Canada!


I used to find lots of things to work on at those times ...... not so much now.



sylvia

I remember when new threads were also posted in the wee hours. Now there's nothing.

Kath,

Perhaps you could post some threads offering lookups to keep you busy. I wonder how many responses there would be for FreeBMD and 1881 census lookups. :-)

Rose

Probably because people are subscribing to Ancestry and the like, and doing their own lookups and research.