ThinkGenealogy

Connect with friends, connect with family, connect with those that match your DNA?  The social networking site launched in beta today by the Sorenson family of companies called GeneTree promises to better help people answer the questions “Who am I?” and “Where do I come from?”.

A number of Sorenson companies (Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, Sorenson Media, Sorenson Genomics) have joined forces with a vision described in their motto and overall goal:

Motto: You Belong Here

Goal: To be able to take any two people in the world, sit them down and tell them exactly how they’re related.

The press release uses phrases such as “deep ancestral histories” and “human genetic heritage” as it describes how this social networking site is different from other family history networking sites:

GeneTree will tie into the SMGF database that currently contains information on more than 6 million ancestors through linked genetic and pedigree data from approximately 90 percent of the world’s countries.

Registering for the beta site is open to all and is completed in a few minutes.  The site allows you to manage your profile, upload media, create a family tree, connect with friends, and keep a DNA profile.

The following image shows the Flash-based Family Tree Builder:

It will be exciting to see how this site evolves and is accepted by the genealogy community.

All users of genealogy software should be aware that desktop software and web applications are converging in exciting ways that will soon affect the applications they use. One way that they are converging is through something called Rich Internet Applications (RIAs).

Are there any genealogy Rich Internet Applications today? The answer is yes. At least a few. Currently, they all are created using Adobe Flash.

It might surprise you that FamilySearch Labs is on th leading edge of genealogy Rich Internet Applications with these prototype applications:

Pedigree Viewer
panning, zooming
direct-line highlighting
ancestor/descendant view
search
GEDCOM import

Life Browser
add artifact (photo, record)
edit details
associate artifact as evidence
image representing potential timeline feature

Other genealogy sites using RIAs include:

Geni
panning, zooming
enter details, support for single birth, marriage, death date
intuitive interface for adding parents, spouse, siblings, and children
appealing design

MyHeritage
2D/3D perspective, animation to help flow through tree
enter details, support for multiple facts (birth, marriage, death, many more)
intuitive interface for adding parents, spouse, siblings, and children
appealing design

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