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Geni Family Tree

Posted on November 7, 2007 - Filed Under Networking, Personal History |

My friend Ed Schipul just told me about this amazing website, Geni.com. Now I am totally addicted to it.

What Geni is, is a family networking tool that allows you to create a family tree using an extremely simple web interface. When you set up your tree, you add people and then Geni will email them and invite them to join your tree. Each family member has a profile which can be viewed by clicking their name in the tree. This helps family members learn more about each other and stay in touch. Family members can also share photos and work together to build profiles for common ancestors. Geni is private and only family members can see your tree or edit their profiles.

With social media networking all the rage these days, what better place to start than with your own family. I set up a family tree in about 15 minutes and invited my parents, my brother and his wife, my sister and my two sons to join the network. I added in my uncle and aunt and invited my only cousin to join the network as well. A few hours later, my father, son, husband, sister and my only cousin joined and jumped in. Now I am adding some of my husband’s family. Hopefully everyone will update their profiles and continue to add to the tree.

Ed told me there are now 620 people on his Geni family tree! Way to go!

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• About Me

  

  Stefani Twyford is a video biographer living in Houston, Texas. She is the managing partner of Legacy Multimedia, a company committed to the art of acknowledgment through the medium of video. Speaking on the subject of personal and oral history, Stefani has appeared on Wild About Houston, Ken Hoffman's radio show The Game, and as a guest on KPRC Channel 2 News.

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  A Story We Tell Ourselves Time Magazine 1/18/2007

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  "In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage - to know who we are and where we came from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness, and the most disquieting loneliness."

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