Genealogical Hotspots -- Reactions from Blog Posts

Over the past few years as I write blog posts, I have noticed that there are certain subjects that get an immediate and usually, negative, reaction from certain segments to the genealogical community. I am not necessarily talking about comments from those who disagree with me, I mean topics that the comments to these posts have the attitude that I have no business writing about these subjects.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) those types of comments only inspire me to write more on the same subject. Here is the short list of topics that seem guaranteed to get an adverse reaction:

• Any comments that appear to cast a negative light on the certification or accreditation entities or processes
• Any comment that condemns the present copyright law, especially if I disparage the whole copyright process in any way. 
• Any post where I suggest that the youth have a long way to go before they have the qualifications to become competent genealogists
• Comments in a post either in support of online family trees or against online family trees
• Obvious (to me) problems with the genealogical community
• The difference (if there is any) between family history and genealogy
• Privacy in any context
• The qualifications of becoming a genealogist 

Now, I can assure you that I have never decided not to post about a topic merely because it might cause some controversy (that is an understatement). But do any of these topics really matter?

I think the biggest challenge facing the genealogical community today involves the proliferation of online family trees to the point where it is almost impossible to determine if there is an adequate basis for anything online. Next, I would suggest that we are in a quandary over digital records. There is such a flood of new records, that it is easy to begin to believe the "every ancestral issue" can be resolved from online sources.