See where your heading for but I'm not sure if the older s will jump on this bandwagon.
Myspace is a horrible website (my humble opinion), but this site will even be more complicated unless you really have a nice and easy user-interface.
Tommy

Vanhees - good comments. When I look at my own family, it seems like there is one aspect of the Internet that non-techies are latching onto - the ability to stay in touch with family members. This is one reason that I thought Geni was a great idea when it launched. In fact, Geni is up to 5M users profiles and has a $100M valuation. In five months. Not too shabby.

I think this "geneology" theme is key to bringing an older crowd on the Internet. Also, I completely agree with you - MySpace's UI sucks and this site would demand a ridiculously simple UI. That's where the "Pownce" piece of the puzzle fits in. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. The UI is simple and elegant. Even though it doesn't really do anything that isn't being done by IM or Email or Twitter, it's that design element that I think will make it a hit.

@thecougar: nice idea. People above50 years are a great target group to focuss on. About the usability: Have you seen zude.com already? Drag and drop almost anything you like on a webpage. mght e something that could work for this idea.

How is this much different from myfamily.com?

DLR - Nice site, I think that is a great example of one way to do a family website. It's very Web 1.0, though - a single page where people can post photos and messages. My idea is more of a social network where each person would have their own page, and would be able to browse around other family members pages. The other pieces missing are the ability to create a family tree, and the ability to send out pownce-style IM messages (single message, big group message, small group message). I like their focus on simplicity and privacy, two very key elements for this demographic.

thecougar you can link pages together with my family though, much in the way you link profiles together in facebook.

this is a great idea... whats the business model? ads?

GL - $20/month subscription fee

j/k, probably a standard combo of ads + premium services + praying that MSFT/GOOG/YHOO buys me out.

You can use Facebook to do most of your idea.

Whats the "it" factor that makes the difference?

]V[oogy

Moogy - Two things: the ability to create a family tree, and the ability to send out simple Pownce-style IM messages (single message, big group message, small group message). Also, the brand. Facebook is known for being a place for college kids to find people to hook up with.

I was talking with a co-worker about this the other day (who asked the exact same question) and made this comparison.

"If McDonald’s decided to put steak on the menu, why would you need Ruth’s Chris? Geni’s worth $100M because they do one thing and do it exceptionally well. Although, if McDonald’s were to find a way to make a high-quality steak at a decent price, there’d probably be a heck of a lot of less cows out there destroying the ozone. "

Translation: *if* McDonald's could execute well on this idea, they would probably be successful. However, there's always room in the marketplace for a niche. Never underestimate the power of a brand.

This idea is really nice...specially the "disfunctional" family now a days in terms of physical contact due to careers and even children's educition...expat and mostly Asians whose one or two members of the family (multiply to the relatives whose out of the country) this is will serve a good bonding sites to track everyone under one Family friendly and unifying site.
You got my vote!

Hey guys what you are talking about already exists!!

at http://www.mygreatbigfamily.com