Imo a like/heart system like the forum has would be ideal
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By the way, I really appreciate you asking. The vast majority of the time, I like being thanked. Also, I greatly enjoy reading all the grateful comments that I receive and don’t want people to stop or think they’re impeding my work by thanking me. That said, there have been a few times where the number of comments have made it difficult to navigate my notifications (usually only from a handful of observers who thank me on every observation). I don’t at all want to discourage these observers from interacting with me (especially in such a positive way), and I do still appreciate it, but it can get overwhelming.
Long story short, since you’re asking the question, you’re probably fine with whatever method you use. It shows that you both respect the identifier’s expertise, process, and time.
5 Likes
Most of the time I tag people to discuss about ID, and many people do that. It’s believed that tagging might have the usage of highlighting in the message, But for thanking I think it’s no need to tag but I don’t oppose. People can thank as they will but if I was thanked I will be happy.
1 Like
When I am going thru my notifications. Or ploughing thru the old Pre-Mavericks.
I see an obs where
- The observer has a wrong ID
- Two trusted identifiers add the right ID (they agree) . Perhaps with a (polite and) helpful explanation of the right and wrong.
- Observer leaves an enthusiastic thank you!
- I am still identifying at that obs because the observer has left it trapped at a broader ID. That is NOT saying thank you, that is making work.
- I favour walking the talk. If an identifier has taught you something, pay it forward. Sort out your own obs where the help applies. Then help to clear the backlog for the identifier. That is a sincere and appreciated thank you - I see you joining in clearing the backlog. Thank YOU!
(Note to self - find the recent obs where my - why is it ant-like beetle, not an ant? - was answered by @egordon88 - NO elbow in the antenna!)
Always more to learn on iNat - 5 obs for a relative in Chile.
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-to-handle-a-growing-number-of-notifications/34735
https://forum.inaturalist.org/search?q=notifications
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Do not like. If you asked me to ID something and I successfully clicked a button, I prefer that you thank me by not thanking me. It may feel natural and polite to thank me, but it would be terrible if everyone did it.
However, if you ask a question and I end up typing a paragraph or two, I’d like to find out if it was of some use to you.
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It could be quite annoying for expert, especially if he id’ed 20-30-40 observations per row)
Sometimes I greet expert, if I’ve got for example several identifications for rare species. But one comment with tagging is much better then flooding every observation. Btw, it may add some noise for users who look through observations to find some discussions about the identifications or observations (like additional information to seperate species, about behaviour of the observed item and so on and so for)
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I do it probably more than most people but I like to do it only when it’s somebody I’ve never seen before or somebody who IDed many of my observations in a single timeframe/sitting. And I always keep it at a simple “thanks” unless I have a question or something. I agree that it would be annoying if done excessively. Though I’ve probably annoyed some people even by doing it abstemiously.
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Not mandatory obviously but I always make the time to type a “You’re welcome!” back if I ever do get thanked. I’m always glad to be of service whenever someone does feel the need to ping me for something!
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I think we need like/thank you button instead of “agree”.
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I think it’s too much to thank people explicitly just for basic IDs. Some identifiers are doing many hundreds of IDs a day. I don’t want to see the comment thread under observations filled with useless politenesses; it’s just spammy and gets in the way of useful content and discussion.
That said, there are of course times that you will want to thank somebody for going above and beyond. If somebody takes the time to give a detailed explanation of their ID with references etc then of course I reply with my thanks in such a case. And if I saw that somebody had IDed a large number of my obs, I might even send them a private message saying thanks.
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Although I have thought the same sometimes, on balance I don’t feel it is wise. It pretty much goes without saying that everybody on iNat is thankful for every ID they get, so the thanks can be left implicit. If there was an explicit thanks button, then many people would feel that not clicking it is tantamount to being ungrateful, and would thus feel obliged to explicitly click for every ID they get. That can be a lot if you post large numbers of obs. iNat’s ethos is always about streamlining workflow – making it as easy as possible to post as many obs as you can – because every burden that can be removed from the whole process results in a measurable increase in the amount of data shared and IDs made.
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If only iNat would add tools that make iNatting easier for identifiers, that would be wonderful!
1 Like
Please don’t thank for every ID! I like it when someone thanks me because they really puzzled over an ID and I helped them learn.
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Thank you (lol) for asking this question! I have been wondering the same thing myself!
I don’t want to clog up anybody’s dashboard/inbox but I do find it hard not to thank those that put in the extra effort by leaving a comment on one of my observations!
The responses here have been very useful too! 
I like being thanked and either way is nice. Kindness is never unappreciated.
1 Like
I do like the thanks as it shows that there is some appreciation for what I do, but as other said without tagging please and not for every little ID… me doing hundreds IDs in a day it would get overwhelming fast.
I personally follow the follwing thanking routine on my own observations:
- Thanks when I tagged someone and the person replies.
- If it is an ID for something that was un-IDed for a very long time. In that case I am just genuinly happy that it was resolved at last :-)
- Thanks when someone went through a larger batch of my observations at once. I then usually pick one of those observations, where maybe anyways there was something else to clarify and use it also to thank for the many IDs… in this case I will obviously tag the person as well, because there was a question to be answered as well.
- If I have someone frequently IDing all of my taxon X over a larger amount of time I will also thank him/her at some point… maybe if the person leaves a message on one of those observations, I will reply to that with a thank you. Sometime I will also just write a short PM to let the person know that I value what they do… sometimes those were nice conversation starters. Sometimes there is also a chance to thank those IDers on forum posts or blog post in general :-)
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Thank you!
1 Like
^That is so meta 
Yesssss this happens to me a few times a month. I correct an ID with info and a note feel free to ask for further info if it isnt clear, the person replies “thank you!” Or even sometimes a more full detail thanks that sounds sincere like “oh thanks i see what you mean thats good info!” And yet leaves their own wrong ID without at least moving it to an agreeing level. That totally negates the thanks in my head, if they wont fix their own observations
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I agree with the general consensus, the occasional thanks is nice but too many just means more notifications to sort through.
If I take the time to write out an explanation of something specific to that observation, a thanks is often appreciated, but if I’m just giving an agreeing / confirming ID there’s really no need.
Sometimes if I’ve done a whole lot for a particular user, they’ll leave a comment or send me a message along the lines of “thanks for all the IDs you’ve been doing!” which is nice.
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I usually only say thank you when I have asked for help understanding how to ID it myself (even on other people’s obs) and got an explanation OR if I have puzzled to ID my obs myself and gave up in frustration and someone comes along and gives me a genus or species level ID. I usually thank people by IDing some of their obs. I prefer people to do the same over saying thanks, but I don’t mind thanks. Tagging is a bit much since I will get two notifications.
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