It looked a bit like the land rush when Oklahoma was opened to settlers as new social network Genealogywise.com made its appearance earlier today.  The FamilyLink property had a “soft” opening–no flashy press conferences or celebratory speeches marked the launch.   A simple unembargoed notice to several influential bloggers seemed to be all that was necessary to set the ‘Net on fire with the stampede to the site.

New members were signing up at a furious pace this afternoon and new groups on the site seemed to spring up literally every other minute.  Friend requests threatened to overwhelm new members as they settled in.

I visited Genealogywise in the midst of the initial frenzy–and I was impressed with the site.  It is very clean, yet rich in its contours.  The organization of the site is excellent.  It is tied into FamilyLink’s World Vital Records site.

Sometime ago, I had grown disenchanted with World Vital Records, finding it to be a pale imitation of GenealogyBank. But now, I’m inclined to take another look.

The launch today may well re-order the genealogical cyberuniverse.  It can’t be seen as anything other than a direct assault on Facebook, Geni, and even perhaps WeRelate and MyHeritage.

It’s starting to get interesting out there!

Ben Sayer as quoted by Miriam Midkiff:

“Will the last genealogist to leave Facebook please turn off the lights?”