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Online genealogy is a wonderful way to collaborate, and I encourage you to put your trees online and take advantage of the research hints that many database services provide. I love receiving clues about new-to-me records about my ancestors. I am especially ecstatic when a newly discovered photo of my ancestor is in my hint queue.
What I cringe at are pictures of trees, flowers, and flags!
Why not use MyTreeTags Instead.
STOP posting these unnecessary graphics on Ancestry.com. You’re wasting the hinting feature resources and causing a lot of eye-rolling.
Notice this profile of my 5th great-grandmother Amelia Mathews, who was born in 1741 in Pennsylvania and died about 1816 in Virginia. Truthfully, Amelia is on TOO MANY family trees in conjunction with her husband, Robert Dickey. Many of the trees are poorly researched and conflicting. I don’t know if I’ll ever be interested in investigating this headache of a line. But Ancestry likes to send me hints for Amelia, so I occasionally peek.
The hints for my grandmother on Ancestry.com
Oh, joy! Look at these fabulous suggestions. Let the sighs and eye-rolling commence. Seriously, why are these images put on the profiles of our ancestors at Ancestry?
State Flower of Pennsylvania
Before the rise of photography, every profile did not need a picture. Adding the state flower Pennsylvania to an ancestor’s profile is meaningless. The state flower for this state wasn’t discussed until the 1930s! That’s over 180 years after Amelia was born! She was living in Virginia when she died. Wouldn’t the Virginia flower be an appropriate choice as well? Do we know that Amelia liked said flower?
Random flower for Amelia
Oh, look! Now she has a random flower that the person uploading it did not share why they used it. At least the ‘state flower of Pennsylvania’ caption has some reasonable sense. But this?
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When I prepared to share this post, I advised you not to share unrelated photos of your ancestors on Ancestry.com. I hadn’t expected the third graphic hint for Amelia.
I’m so confused as to why this is on Ancestry for Amelia.
What do you mean by "The End"? The end of the line? The end of the discussion of her lineage? The end of what? Why is this photo public if it is a note to yourself in your research? Erg. Poor Amelia, she's "The End," but yet only the beginning.
Where do I start with flags and seals? This ancestor lived in Virginia, but guess what! The flag shown here was not adopted as the state flag until 1860. That's good because the state would enter the Civil War a few years later and need a banner to hold aloft to rally the troops. But my ancestor with these images? Yeah.
He didn't live during the Civil War, so why are these flags used? He didn't hold Virginia public office, and he didn't create the seal or the flag. Therefore, my ancestors should not have these images in their media gallery. They do nothing to tell his story because they are symbols not seen during his lifetime.
Please avoid adding or uploading flags for your ancestor's profile unless they have a story directly related to their creation. I mean, if your ancestor raised the banner of Iwo Jima, then maybe that flag should appear in their media gallery. But most people don't have a direct connection to the state flags, so don't post them!
Unspecified Ship Images on Ancestry
While discussing my ancestors not being flowers, trees, or flags, let's discuss the ships people attach to their profiles. A random boat as a graphic in the media gallery on Ancestry.com is pointless if no ship name is connected to the said image. It's also visually misleading to add a ship graphic that likely did not resemble the ship your ancestor rode on across the ocean. Tell the visual truth, please.
Ship photos are added to suggest to the profile creator/viewer that the person in question was an immigrant. In fact, some people make it clear that the ship graphic has that message.
My ancestor is an immigrant ‘generic’ media graphic.
However, such graphics are not unique. When I view a portrait family tree and find these generic ship symbols as photos, it is redundant and wastes printed ink on the published trees.
If you do discover a visual representation of the ship on which your ancestor sailed, then, by all means, add that photo and then use the caption feature to explain the connection. Otherwise, please stop adding these images.
Finally, if you come across images such as these, please don’t add them to your tree.
What if your lineage changes based on new information, and you now have a misleading image?
You thought I was kidding when I said my ancestor wasn’t a tree!
The relationship created by linking your ancestors together is the family tree. Uploading an unidentified tree graphic for your relative's profile is unnecessary. If the media image is a piece of art they created, please share and tell us the story of their arboreal masterpiece. If you can't stand the blank portrait spot for your ancestor, get over it. They lived in pre-photography days, and their portraits were never created or destroyed. A tree or silhouette is not a representation of your ancestors.
If you can't stand the blank portrait spot for your ancestor, get over it. They lived in pre-photography days, and their portraits were never created or destroyed. A tree or silhouette is not a representation of your ancestors.
Stop Decorating Your Ancestry Family Tree With Junk
Don't turn our ancestors into trees, flowers, and flags on Ancestry.com. You're wasting hinting resources and creating a lot of grumblings for researchers on the other end. It also makes those Ancestry.com family trees less appealing, which defeats the purpose of sharing your tree online—to collaborate with potential cousins!
Instead, share photos that genuinely connect your relative with a place or time. FYI: Most of those images will be modern.
