No one actually “picks” unknown - that’s the term iNat uses when an observation lacks a “real” ID. So it’s not really a selectable option, just word used when an observation is in a certain state. It could be changed to “No ID yet” or something.
In my experience this usually happens because of a few reasons, which others have already laid out, and it’s mostly becuase people don’t know they should add an ID, or they’re not in an area where they can access the iNat database and thus successfully add an ID.
No one should be chastised for not adding an ID upon upload. If they’re new, write a polite comment telling them that they should add an ID before uploading, if possible. If they’re not new, add an ID or don’t add an ID and wait for the user to eventually add one, there are plenty of other observations to tackle.
There’s language available in the frequently used responses page, and you can use a text expander to easily enter it. In my experience this mitigates the issue of someone being angry about the coarse ID, and many people often say thank you.
Moving forward, the redesigned iNat app makes it much more difficult to post an observation that lacks an ID (I doubt we’ll ever get rid of the option, though. As others have said, better to get the observation than not get it).
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when you make a new observation, you’re taken to an ID screen before you get to the main observation edit page. the CV model is available offline.
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iconic taxa are available to add as an ID even if you’re offline and can’t access iNat. It doesn’t’t cover all taxa but it covers a majority of them.
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the “Upload Now” button remains white and less enticing if there’s no ID for the observation.
(Please don’t offer feedback or ask questions here about iNat Next in this thread, I just wanted to bring up that this is an issue being addressed in design. You can check out tutorials if you want, I’ll be adding video ones later.)