Include approved Mayflower Society line in profiles?

Question

I wonder if there's a policy, convention, consensus, or whatever on this: What are the thoughts of putting Mayflower Society approved member ID on profiles of line carriers back to the original passenger. Or maybe just to the 5th generation for those in one of the Silver Books.

Yes, that would be considered a secondary source, but a pretty well respected one. And would be helpful for anyone considering their own Society application. (Yes, the Society's standards have tightened over the years, and some older applications wouldn't be accepted today, but still, a decent starting point.)

And what would that entry include? Maybe something like:

* Descendent of Mayflower passenger(s) <passengers> through <parent>.<ref>Mayflower Society member <number></ref>

Thoughts?

Update: I probably should have said this explicitly: I'm not talking about a sticker, anything like the "Mayflower Descendent" sticker. Rather something that might be considered a secondary source (though, unfortunately, one not directly available to the general public). Or maybe just in a "Notes" section.

Answer 1

Here’s the link to the Mayflower descendant sticker:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Template:Mayflower_Descendants

And the Mayflower Project which describes additional categories: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Mayflower

Comments

I know about that sticker and have several for myself, but the sticker is explicitly only for profiles of living people

That wasn't the point of my question. I'm wondering about profiles for my line (or anyone else's) back toward the Mayflower passenger. The whole point is, if some distant cousin finds a profile on my (or anyone else's) line, they could immediately follow the path back to the passenger.

And yes, I know, the WikiTree connection finder probably could/would have shown them that connection anyway, but this would be an additional datapoint validating their own line.

Answer 2

The WT consensus has been not to use stickers to highlight lines of ancestry or descent from notables except for a few generations before or after the notable - e.g., (1) the Mayflower Project has a sticker for descendants but it is only supposed to be used for descendants born prior to 1700 and (2) the US Presidents Project has a sticker for descendants but it is only supposed to be used for children and grandchildren of the President and a sticker for ancestors that is only supposed to be used for 4 generations before the President.

I think the reasons for limiting ancestor/descendant stickers in that fashion is that (1) WT profiles can have thousands or millions of connected descendants and ancestors, which means the potential for profiles to have a large number of stickers for lines of ancestry to and descent from notables, unless they are limited to just a few generations from the notable (note that WT policies limits a profile to having 5 stickers and 3 or fewer is better), (2) unlike paper genealogies, in WT, lines of descent and ancestry are not described or shown through designations on a person's profile but through the connections between the profiles and by using apps that allow you to see those connections - e.g., trees, Connection Finder, Relationship Finder, Ancestor Explorer, and (3) stickers are not automatically updated when connections are changed, so that a sticker designating a connection to a notable could easily become inaccurate without people managing the profile being aware of the change.

I also note that WT policy considers stickers to be optional cosmetic features, so that anyone who is a contributor to a profile can remove a sticker from a profile. As a result, there is no assurance that even an accurate ancestor/descendant sticker would remain on a profile.

Comments

I specifically wasn't thinking of a sticker, rather something more like a secondary source or even some kind of a "Notes" section. Not even something WikiTree would aggregate or use in "connections." 

It's something someone could use as corroborating evidence in their own application. (WikiTree doesn't always have all of the sources that might be on the official application.) And of course it's always possible that the Society's standards have changed and they won't accept the old application without further evidence. (Or maybe it's even been proved wrong.)

And on the flip side, WikiTree profiles don't always have enough sources listed to be considered "proven" by the Society. In my case, for example, I have an ancestor (not Mayflower main line, but a spouse) that every genealogy site I've seen including WikiTree lists a specific death year and often location, nowhere can I find a shred of evidence for where/when of death.