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Post date: Nov 14, 2015 4:56:51 AM
Please share your information on 23andMe!
If you are not an 23andMe customer already, you may not want to read to the end, but you can order your DNA test kit using this link.
In preparation for the ultimate move of all 23andMe customers to the "new 23andMe", users have already begun to see some changes.
If you are a 23andMe customer, and if you haven't yet been moved to the "new 23andMe", then you are likely seeing the following message when you log into your account:
"As of November 11th, some aspects of DNA Relatives have been modified in preparation for the transition to the new 23andMe experience. Pending introductions have been canceled, and anonymous participants may no longer receive introductions or messages in DNA Relatives. If you are anonymous you can message any Public Match, but this message will include your profile name. To review or update your DNA Relatives settings, click the blue "Update Your Profile" button below. Learn more here."
The idea here is that 23andMe will no longer permit anonymous participation in DNA Relatives.
Yes, the ethnicity estimates are a cool feature, and the health reports are 23andMe's focus (and the backbone of their business model), but one of the greatest benefits of a 23andMe DNA test for anyone interested in their own family history, is the DNA Relatives component. DNA Relatives enable you to share information that may help you you to discover more about your own ancestry.
In order to participate in DNA Relatives, you will need to update your DNA Relatives Profile Settings. If your Profile Settings look like the following image, then you have to change them.
To make the change to your DNA Relatives Profile Settings, you need to follow these instructions:
- Visit the list view in DNA Relatives: https://www.23andme.com/you/relfinder/;
- Click the blue "Update Your Profile" button that appears next to your own entry in the list;
- A dialog will open up with your Profile Settings for DNA Relatives (see the image above). The first item is the Profile Name, where you will see a dropdown that lets you select how you appear to your matches. If you would like to participate in DNA Relatives, select "Show me as [ your profile name ]" from the dropdown; and,
- Click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the dialog.
If one of the reasons that you have taken a DNA test with 23andMe is to use DNA testing to augment your genealogical research, then you really need to make the above change.
One of the biggest complaints that I have heard about 23andMe is that a large percentage of DNA matches tend not to accept offers to share DNA information, and this includes requests from close matches. In my own case, only 2 of my 10 closest DNA matches have accepted invitations to share. The two who agreed to share are my 1st and 10th closest matches, and I happen to know exactly how I am related to both of them; they are my 1st cousin, 1x removed and my 3rd cousin. If my 10th closest match is a confirmed 3rd cousin, then the previous 9 matches must be fairly close, yet for months they have not accepted invitations to connect. Based on what I have heard from other 23andMe users, this is not an unusual experience.
This type of behavior baffles me. I am a genealogist, so perhaps my perspective is limited by my specific interest, but I honestly don't understand why anyone who would take a DNA test with 23andMe would be uninterested in sharing information with their close DNA matches, or unwilling to at least help others who are looking to make connections and who are looking to learn more about their own families and their own ancestries.
Even if you have little interest in learning anything about your own family history, and if you are not interested in participating in DNA Relatives, PLEASE at least reach out to your closes DNA matches and offer to share.
Keep in mind that you are not sharing anything that is useful for any other purpose. If you have a valid reason not to share with your close DNA matches, I would love to hear from you. You can contact me here.
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