I started a thread related to this topic here since I didn’t see this one.
In general, I don’t mind being called on for identifications. Especially if it’s a taxon I’m familiar with in a region I’m familiar with. But there’s an increasing trend of users from all over the world tagging the top five identifiers of certain taxa with no context or other information.
There’s a certain etiquette that should be followed if you’d like to call on experts to review your observation. Let’s say I submit an observation of a beetle from the coast of Lake Erie. I’m not going to just tag the top five Coleoptera identifiers on the taxon page - I’m going to look for the ones who are top identifiers or observers of Coleoptera in my region. @borisb is the worldwide top identifier of Coleoptera, but a quick look at his profile reveals he is based in Germany and mainly identifies European observations. Maybe it would be better to tag one of the top identifiers of eastern North American Coleoptera. And if I do tag Boris, I might consider prefacing it with “I realize you may not be an expert on North American beetles…” or something.
I didn’t used to mind being called on for IDs but the frequency of users tagging me with no context on observations is becoming annoying. At the very least, a polite request would demonstrate that they are engaging the community and not just calling on faceless identification bots.
\end rant