Genealogy Chat

I found a member that has been tracing a large part of my tree iv messaged them a long time ago but no reply how can I find out if they are still active on this site

Thanks
Rob

First, click on their name, if it appears in the next box then they still have a sub.

Then go to your sent box and see if the little envelope has gone. If it still shows then they haven’t opened it which may indicate they have changed their email address and not notified Genes.

Try sending another message giving a bit of information, not just the ‘can I see your tree’ option.

You can't.

Try messaging them again. (How long ago is "a long time ago" ?)

If their name shows up in the "To" box when you try to send a message, then at least they haven't cancelled their GR membership.
But that doesn't necessarily mean they are "active" on the site.

.

There are many reasons why someone doesn't reply to a message - if they've changed their email address without informing GR, they won't have received the message.
Or it may have gone into their junk email box and they haven't noticed it.
Or they are unable to use GR/email/internet for some reason - illness, age, etc.
Maybe they've lost interest in family tree research.
Maybe they just decided not to reply.

Thanks guys ;-)

You say you’ve had no reply. You don’t say whether or not the person has opened your message.

As you’ve only been a member for two months, a ‘long time’ may not actually be very long ;-)

Good point, ErikaH.


Robert -
sometimes people reply many months after receiving a message - if at all.

And note Nameslessone's advice to explain your interest .
Nobody with any sense is going to show all their family details without knowing why you want to know.

Ok guys I’ll just have to be patient :-D

Being patient can work!

In the early days of this site when lists were short I came across a name I recognised. The other person had had the name on the list for ages and had almost given up. Reunited them with their closer family, helped find the half brother he knew about. About 10 years late a dna match popped up and now the original person has a load more half siblings!

Waw that’s cool :-) grate news

Back in 'the old days' when I was fairly new to family research, I sent letters to people in a particular town, who had a fairly unusual surname of interest.

I had some replies, but nearly 7 years later, I had a phone call from a man, who turned out to be a 2nd cousin.
At the time I had written, life was not settled for him, but he must have had an interest to have kept our contact details all that time.

We never know what is going on in people's lives, so just wait a while and hope.....

I am in contact with an elderly relative had been ignored when she wrote to someone of the same name. Luckily the daughter later came across the letter and realised who it was from. The elderly lady has now ‘found, her fathers family and has received lots of information.

These days of the internet mean that info can be retained in the ether for ever, ready to be found by someone else, whereas a written message could be lost or thrown.
I too found a 'cousin' overseas by searching on a fam hist site. It had been 6 years since she left the message, but was very glad to hear from me. We have shared lots of fam info, and are regularly in touch.