I am in several Facebook groups about genealogy. I won't mention all of the names but the drama is there especially on one of them. People can comment or ask a question wanting help or try to start a discussion and it will move greatly down hill with sometimes mean, hateful, snide remarks. Most of the time it has been dealing with proof , sources and professional versus amateur genealogy. I will say I am not professional genealogist I still consider myself completely new to the field but come on is there really a reason to be this hateful and sometimes mean to people just for asking for help.
There was one post in particular that comes to mind. I think it was someone stating there were related to so and so and the person posting didn't put on their post of how they reached that conclusion or the sources the information came from. One person stated that without sources and proof its not true. Another posted that basically unless you have a lot of money to spend then don't even start researching your family tree.
Here is my take on it. I started genealogy to learn more about the great family that I came from. I am not rich and I know that I need to get out and do field research at courthouses and libraries but really is there something wrong with getting the information off the internet now and doing field research later. And no I am not rich and no I do not have a lot of money but I will continue this research and do it the best that I can.
Regarding sources, I know that you need to source your tree for various reasons. One you know that you are on the right path, you know the information is correct and where you got the info, and others later on will be able to find the exact same information on your ancestors. Is my tree completely sourced right now, No it's not. Am I working on that yes I am. Should I be made to feel less because I am new to this, or I am not a professional or I might not know as much as others No I should not.
We have to remember we are all human, No matter who you are you are not perfect!!!!!!!!!!! Sooner or later you are going to make a mistake or need to ask a question and people should not make you feel awful for asking that question or making that mistake.
I am starting my genealogy journey.. The surnames I am researching are Lemons, Keel, Brady, Reed, Cunningham, East, Newport, Rittenberry, Mccloud, and several more.
So Sorry you have run into nasty people in a facebook group... Not fun especially if they are directing their nastiness at you. I ran into a nasty person on ancestry as part of my doing some research on a Lemons family in the DNA project and not related to our family. I had found her tree and there seemed to be some confusion in a person who was the direct ancestor of the person who had been DNA tested, so I sent an email asking what I thought was an innocent question. This set off a very nasty event that bordered on her stalking my messages on the Lemons message board, and comments on my book at amazon.com, an other websites that I posted on. She must have googled me to see where I was on the internet. It lasted several months of her sending me very nasty messages in my email. I finally deleted the tree I was making for the DNA person. And tried to make it very hard for her to find me or message me. She finally went away. But when you deal with the public, you are going to run into nasty people on occasion, I just slowly back away.
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