New Pop Finder?

[similligan]

What is wrong with seeing other people's percentages?
For some people THIS information may help them to figure out where connections are.

I guess my question is how does the percentage help? I'm brickwalled at a German gg-grandfather. I can't imagine treating a match differently if he/she is only 10% vs. 30% German. So if someone is a little squeamish about showing their population finder results, maybe removing the percentages could push them in the direction of not opting out.

Susan

[Zaru]

Interesting thoughts here.

It appears that many/most posting here appears to believe that their family trees are absolutely correct, and there could be no other explanation for their "erroneous" PF results. Folks, I hate to break it to you, but all of us have to have an NPE in our lines that are going to trigger results which do not make sense. I have discovered two NPEs, one in my Mt line and in my direct Y line. Now my crazy Admix results make sense.

These calculators work- you just need to get out of your own way. Could there be improvements- absolutely, but if you are reading Finnish/Russian/Eastern European across all of the utilities but you swear that you are 100% English- think again.Shake your tree and let the fruit fall.

[1798]

Maybe you should do an opinion poll in your community and see what they, collectively, would like to share/not share.

I know how my family and cousins feel about dna tests.When I got dna tested I wasn't just making my dna public but theirs as well.
I have 490 FF matches and I can't tie any of them to my family tree so they are far out cousins and will remain so.

[Taz85]

I would of rather them not say anything at all about Population Finder. Now that I know it's coming, I will grow impatient.

[Inge]

If it is accurate, it is me and whatever it says, I won't be ashamed of it. If it's not accurate, what difference does it make if people see what I'm not made of?

This. It remains to be seen if the new tool will be any more accurate than the existing ones.

I am one who don´t upload gedcoms on purpose. If my matches contact me or answer my emails to them, I will share. However, to automatically share the results of Pop Finder with everyone, I find as unproblematic as walking out the door without covering my face.

[ERHill66]

Population Finder

Message I got

Dear Edward

Our new and vastly improved Population Finder is launching in just a few weeks! Soon, you'll be able to dive into fresh insights about your ethnic origins. You'll also be able to compare your ethnicty with your Family Finder matches!

If you want to share your ethnic origins with your matches, you don't need to take any action. You'll automatically be able to compare your ethnicity with your matches when the new Population Finder becomes available. This is the recommended option.

However, we do understand that sharing your ethnicity with your matches is your choice. Therefore, you may choose not to take part (opt-out). To opt-out, please follow the instructions below by April 30.*

[winner]

I've heard that almost 20 new populations from Europe will be in the Population Finder. Does anybody knows about Middle East, Africa and America's?

[loobster]

I am solo manager or primary manager of over a half-dozen kits with results -- got the message for exactly one kit (says Apr. 11, 6:02 pm) -- one of the two not returned yet. So I have to guess that probably lots of folks have not gotten the message.

None of the folks I talked into testing agreed to have their ethnicity revealed - so I have set them all to No, do not share. Am still upset FTDNA now reveals the sex to everyone. Am glad we can at least opt out of this. Do not understand why we cannot opt out of having our sex shown as well, now that they have section for Privacy and Sharing.

[benboy]

I wonder why anyone wants to hide ethnic results? Unless they are ashamed in some way? Very Puzzling

[JohnG]

I was just reading these and also the thread about fake names and emails. We really have a variety of attitudes in play. some think of this effort as a great community where we want to share information. I tend to fall in this camp and have found I get better email responses if I say something about myself and my family, where we live, what life stage we are at, something. The photos help with that.

I have had dinner with 8th cousins, feel close to 4th and 5th cousins, trade stories with all of the above. I have photos of where my great great great great grandparents live and a photo of a painting showing their street in flames during the Napoleonic Wars.

Then there is the view of disclosing less, down to the point of not even being contactable! People are interesting in their variety of reactions to life. Or maybe its in the genes

[benboy]

I would be very interested to know if those who opt out can see the results of people who don't? I'm really looking forward to the new FF can't wait

[Dram]

Polulations

Has FTDNA listed what populations will now be available for comparison?

[keigh]

Population Finder

I just hope that the new Population Finder doesn't cause as much confusion has the Ethnicity Results did over at Ancestry.com. The constant question popping up of why doesn't my DNA show up my German, Dutch, Irish, or whatever ggggrandfather etc and so on.

Hopefully FTDNA will give us a clear definition as to what the test results mean, as to the distance back that they were testing for, what population samples were used, what level of confidence we can have in the accuracy of those samples, etc. And not give us a series of amounts > 1% on half a dozen or more populations.

Right now I'm quite happy with the Beta test results. I do know that there is a 7.53% + or - margin of error in my results, but being 97.82% Western European follows along well with my paper trail.

[efgen]

Has FTDNA listed what populations will now be available for comparison?

Not yet. More details will be provided in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Elise
Webinar Coordinator

[keigh]

I wonder why anyone wants to hide ethnic results? Unless they are ashamed in some way? Very Puzzling

I've truthfully never thought about looking to see what a matches Population Finder says. Personally, another person's ethnic background doesn't much relate to my DNA so why bother with it. The only real concern I would have with ancient population backgrounds is what would show up in my immediate family, as parent's and siblings which might give me additional hints as to my background. Currently in Beta, my brother shows a small amount of an European population that I don't, which is expected since we don't share exactly the same DNA from our parents.

But once you get to first cousins, even, they would be sharing such a small amount of Population DNA with me that of what value would it be. Knowing their atosomal DNA background as to cousin relationships is far more important than knowing the possible ancient ancestry of their grandparents that I don't share.

Knowing that possibly my Irish populations got mixed up with the Iberian Populations perhaps as far back as in the Bronze ages is a curiosity. Or that perhaps the reason Scandinavian populations show up is really due to Viking raiders carrying people off to the north countries, or because they settled in the British Isle way back when is very interesting historically, but not much real use on the current family tree.

In a general sense though, thinking in terms of populations across the world and how they've met, melded, grown, and died has made for some interesting historical reading for me recently and has given me a greater understanding of how confusing trying to take apart "Ethnic" DNA is.