As we all know, griping has replaced baseball as America's national pastime. We love to gripe, and the Internet has provided a new playing-field for the sport. Genealogists gripe as well as anybody, so when GenSuck was introduced in 2000 it was an instant hit among those with axes to grind and chips to shoulder.
GenSuck was the brainchild of David Podmajersky and Steve Johnson, whose other projects include Interment.net and Genealogy and How. They say they launched GenSuck "to provide our point of view on what takes place within the genealogy industry." In the early days, the founders posted their discussions of the genealogical topics of the day, and invited visitors to weigh in.
More free-wheeling was the message board, to which anyone could post his grievances—whether against Ancestry.com, Rootsweb, or the guy who invented GEDCOMs. Many of the threads on the board provided useful warnings about deceptive business practices and irresponsible genealogists and, under the watchful eyes of the founders and moderators, generally avoided the flame wars that inevitably occur when gripers congregate.
Dave and Steve have in the past year allowed GenSuck to track its own course, and the results are not pretty. A handful of trolls have invaded the message board, making life miserable for everyone else. An example:
Question: "Can someone please explain to me why the gift shop at the DAR can take credit cards but not the library?"GenSuck offered a needed outlet for the genealogical community's frustration, and no good alternative has yet appeared. There are still a hardy few who attempt to fight against the tide of incivility on the board. But without a diligent moderator, their efforts are doomed to fail. GenSuck will linger on the web for years, like a mugger awaiting his next easy mark.
Answer: "Could it be that the gift shop is run by a business that is not directly controlled by the DAR? What kind of moron wouldn't carry enough cash to cover the $6 admission fee to the DAR library?"
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