Is there any chance that we can please have a way that curators can mark observers that have died, so that it shows on their profile (a simple cross would be OK)? We have quite a few in our southern African community, and I suspect that they are getting messages, in addition to the requests on thei…

So the main issue is just looking for an inoffensive icon that would indicate an “in memoriam account” when not on their profile page, right? Since on the profile page you could write out that it is an “in memoriam” account and that the user is deceased in whatever the reader’s language is set to. O…

[image] molanic: On the genealogy sites they often just use a simple headstone icon to indicate a deceased person, sometimes with RIP on it. That seems kind of benign and easily understood to me I don’t think this is necessarily universally understood as it would apply to cultural or religiou…

Wikipedia has an optional setting to display suspended users’ usernames as stricken through, which, like inactive users, is another status that’s helpful to know before you start engaging with someone through IDs or comments. Maybe that’s why strike through text struck me as a bit insensitive.

I agree “struckout” is decidedly unfriendly: only for users cancelled or struck off or banned.

The longer this thread goes on, the more squeamish I feel about people announcing my death on iNaturalist, whatever the words or symbols. Guess I’ll just have to live forever.

Just to clarify, I didn’t mean the strikeout. It’s just all starting to make me feel it’s like changing someone’s profile for them, without their permission. I wonder if it might make some people want to leave instructions for their heirs to just delete their accounts?

Perhaps options should be presented to users when they sign up for an account (and presented to all currently active users). We already make agreements for licensing of our content, and I personally would (happily) choose to divest “ownership” of all my iNat content when I died (I don’t really think…

[image] serpophaga: We already make agreements for licensing of our content, and I personally would (happily) choose to divest “ownership” of all my iNat content when I died (I don’t really think of myself as “owning” my observations anyway, but perhaps I’m in a minority). Some users wouldn’t wa…

As an aside, I don’t think Godwin’s law has been broken in this instance. From Wikipedia: “miscasting an opponent’s argument as [hyperbole] when the comparisons made by the argument are actually appropriate”. The statement by Tony is not meant to dismiss an argument, but is adding to the discussion …

Because we’re humans. But the main question here is how to display the information succinctly everywhere else someone’s username is displayed. Only a small fraction of people go to every users’ profile with whom they interact. Most interactions occur on observations and the identify page.

Deceased observers - and a deceased symbol on their icon - #68 by tiwane - Feature Requests

Topic		Replies	Views	Activity
In the event death or incapacity General question	38	1700	April 23, 2024
Can we have an In Memoriam iNat page? General	12	1459	February 1, 2026
The vanishing of a fellow iNatter General	372	15159	February 8, 2023
Should opting out community id be void if the user is deceased? General	78	2036	March 5, 2025
Implement Photo Blur on observations annotated as "Dead" Feature Requests declined	147	9029	April 30, 2023

In the event death or incapacity

General

question

38

1700

April 23, 2024

Can we have an In Memoriam iNat page?

General

12

1459

February 1, 2026

The vanishing of a fellow iNatter

General

372

15159

February 8, 2023

Should opting out community id be void if the user is deceased?

General

78

2036

March 5, 2025

Implement Photo Blur on observations annotated as "Dead"

Feature Requests

declined

147

9029

April 30, 2023

Deceased observers - and a deceased symbol on their icon

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