I have been using Geni.com for over a year now and never thought the site would have such an impact in my life. Facebook is a bit uninteresting to family members and though they have privacy features it is still difficult to master, control, and trust. It makes so much more sense to have a site dedicated to families to communicate and document past and future events. I am uninterested in ‘living online’ with social network sites and more interested in ‘living outside’ with friends and family so you will find this review coming from someone who spends little time on these network sites but just enough to keep them active.
I am actually feeling a bit guilty writing this now but I hope that someone else finds this personal experience interesting and wants to keep family close – but not that close.
Usability
I do miss logging in and seeing the visual tree but the Facebook-like feeds of activity is very interesting and comforting. The site is easy to use for a six-year old and a 66-year old. I have my daughter using the site to view photos – and now videos – of family. She is also more interested in the family tree than I ever was. My grandmother is a huge genealogy nut and has written several books on family names but I never shared her enthusiasm until now. If you have formphobia like myself, then you will appreciate the polite, clear, and engaging way the Geni website collects data. It as not as demanding as you may think and before I knew it I had a lot of info, photos, and a growing tree after a few other family members got motivated to post their family info.
Friends
I hope Geni gets enough feedback on this because I see some hints of adding friends to the network and I am concerned with this idea. There are photos and details that I would not mind sharing with close family friends but I have more public websites for that, Flickr, Ofoto, Facebook, etc. This is not a public website and the differentiator is that very fact. The black and white ‘family only’ format gives me the peace of mind to use and ask family members to trust. The only way to allow godparents or very close friends of family is to have approval by 10 or more other family members. Friends could only see that immediate family info because other family members may not want to be contacted by this person who could abuse the trust of this family network.
Videos
Finally! This should have been added at launch but I know priorities are all part of the launch and beta process. I have been using Vimeo.com for posting private videos and HD footage of family events and will continue to use that for HD but then post a version for family to see on Geni. Vimeo password protects the videos but it is clumsy and if someone forgets the password I am bothered all the time. The videos can be posted from your hard drive or created on the fly with a webcam which is great for those times you want to capture a moment and a video camera is not as handy as a laptop or cam. Once downside is all videos are posted as public and you cannot send someone a video greeting like a Happy Birthday! message. It is also a bit lackluster experience to watch the status of the video upload/encoding process – but it works and a small video clip is there. I will still use Vimeo for my HD versions of the footage.
Business model
I can forecast a few ways to make money from members but whatever they do a bit of resistance will be normal. If they can continue to build trust with the product and not violate privacy concerns then I am sure users will be keen on a minimal fee for upkeep. Advertising would feel like a violation of trust if the ads were targeted based on data that was submitted. Sponsoring areas by certain brands would be the most tactful and valuable method to associate a brand with a trusted site. Demanding users to click outside their path is asking a lot and I would feel much better about a company who spends their ad dollars on the Photos section of Geni rather than invading content space.
Summary
Overall, this Geni product has been a great way to connect with the people I care about most: family. Like a lot of families, everyone is scattered all over the place and it’s nice that we have phones, email, etc. but when I want to ‘reach out and touch someone’ I like to create a video, photo slideshow, or make a card with my daughter and send it. If Geni can look at the real world experiences and mimic those on their site it will be a lot more personal and a great alternative to connect.
- Surprise birthday on webcam. Now they have video capabilities it would be awesome to have family from all over the world to get online at one time and wish someone a happy birthday.
- Send real gifts and not these silly icons without a message.
- Send personal video greetings.
- Donate in a family members name.
- Sponsor events, walks, and other things to raise money.
- Post needs and wants.
- Allow embedded content.
- Encourage family reunions – this would make ‘create an event’ a bit more confusing though.
Filed under: Differentiation, Positioning, Positive Change , family, genealogy, social network
