I see being '@'ed on a species I have no knowledge on as an opportunity to learn something new. I’m often mentioned accidentally since my user name is so similar to @that_bee_guy. One time, it was a mention from a user in China on an orbweaver species I had never seen before.
Sometimes when I’m mentioned like that, I’ll try to do some research and help out with an ID, even when it’s way outside my area of expertise. It can also become a gateway for a community on iNaturalist that I didn’t know existed.
I get the feeling of disappointment, but learning to identify a taxa I couldn’t before is very rewarding.
I wish there was a way to distinguish users who are actual experts or somewhat experts on the subjects, and do away with the boards. I’m having a great deal of frustration in marine mammals because there are a couple of users who are clearly bucking for numbers and they both frequently get the ID wrong. Even when it is brought to their attention that the ID is incorrect, one of them sometimes changes the ID to the correct one, while the other just ignores the information and stays with the bad ID. They are even asked to give supporting information for their IDs, which go unanswered. Get rid of the leaderboards, please. It creates monsters. : )
Obviously seconding the “its not about numbers, its about contributing valuable information” sentiment, but I’d also like to say that I like to see it as a sign of how much I’ve learned. Like, when I started iNaturalist I could barely tell my local birds apart, and now I’ve discovered a deep love for them, done a lot of research, and I’m nearing 40k ID’s on my favorite taxa(and most of them are even correct! lol)
Over time, you’ll start to learn who in the community is a genuine expert. The leaderboards are a starting point and not much more. Checking identifiers’ profiles is often very helpful. And, welcome to the Forum!
Such a situation actually happened to me just a few days ago, a really interesting conversation about a cobweb spider from Sri Lanka. The jury’s still out on the ID but it was a great conversation. I tend to reserve my contributions until I am sufficiently confident about the subject matter, so overseas critters are something that I don’t know enough about to even comment on. However I was lucky enough to be able to pitch in about a species found in NZ that it definitely wasn’t, so at least I could make some contribution.
Yes that’s what I wanna say. But people here tend to complain ‘number’. It looks like I am the one who made a lot of no nutrition ID.
I promise I hardly add ID to those RG observation unless I really love that species. But even though the situationof multi ID under RG is rare in Mantis ans Katydid because they are not very hot group.
So the problem I want to issue is I spend time and efford but I don’t feel I help I don’t feel contribution and then reputation with it, I feel all I do is meaningless as a top identifier, so I want to know how does it really feels like on earth .
It also helps good people, at least I don’t consider myself being a monster and I adore leaderboards of different kind, while not doing anything bad to get on top, etc.
There’s also niche expert identifiers that focus on and identify only one particular taxon on inat. If the taxon in question is not often observed you have such people having only a few dozens identifications (they would still be top identifiers though).
Again, why are so focused on reputation, it’s not what really matters? If you wish to add more ids, do it, if you wish to stop, stop it, but there’s nothing other people can do to that, every ider and every id matters, you see your ids making a new spot for the species on the map or get observation to RG, how’s that not a contribution?
It is also not reputation itself, but which means one kind of feedback.
You know things alway hard to hold on when feedback is absent let alone at the same time there are something hard elsewhere.
As @aphili8 and @arnanthescout says, we want somethings for ourselves. I am no so successful in my life —— I am still a student and who fail many things although trying hard. And IDing on iNat is one of the few things I can do well. It’s hard to quit.
If you feel like you don’t want to keep going, it’s reasonable to stop for a while. People rarely will write something and most users won’t tag anyone, especially if they’re doing their “job” fine, in that cases it can be seen as distraction of ider, not a sign of respect. So, if you get nothing of that kind, it doesn’t mean people don’t recognise you or something.
I am not an expert and cannot ID. Kudos to you for that!
Because I cannot ID, I sometimes reach out, by tagging or by messaging, to experts for help in identifications.
One thing I noticed that might be helpful is if your iNaturalist profile reflected your areas of interest in your profile description. What species/genus/order/family would you like to be consulted for? Worldwide or in specific regions?
How I identify a “go to expert”:
I go to the leaderboard for my country, then go to the top two profiles.
If either has not been active for a period, or if either profile lists extremely different areas of interest (for example: “I am interested in ducks of Canada!” and here I am coming to ask about a small beetle found in Mexico), I move onto the next.
I usually try to tag two experts and am happy if one responds. (Sometimes I luck out and they all respond which is how I now have multiple “fly guys” I can call on, each specializing in a different type of fly.)
Once the person replies, I thank them and put them in my memory as an expert for that type of thing!
I hope you are feeling more appreciated. I have been there, just from the observer side. :) I was looking at your profile and thinking to myself that while I knew you were a student from it, I wouldn’t know what you would want to be consulted on. So that would be my suggestion, to add that to your description. I like your profile image – anime is very popular here!
If so, then keep going, you can change taxon you id or choose a specific area only or do something completely different, or don’t, I don’t have much to do, but I don’t spend all that time iding, because it’s mentally and physically challenging, it’s ok to take a break doing leisure activities, or doing more observing instead as was suggested before me.
Take a break when you need to. Look at the map I linked for you - and remember that across the world. Each. Of those observers (and identifiers in a longer thread). Appreciates. Your. Contribution. We do!
Nowhere near 10000 identifications but between 100 and 1000 I learned about the harder to ID taxa through error and helpful feedback from other users.
With respect to gratitude and positive feedback from people you help with identification, I think these might explain it a bit:
The social networking aspects of iNat seem secondary with observations being the focal point for interaction. People make observations and others help with identification. Comments are mostly used for discussing the observations and rarely in a social way.
New users are very thankful with comments, but as more of their observations get identified, it becomes apparent that this is just how iNat works and that “thank you” isn’t the norm for most observations.
Looking at some of your identifications, the geographic range covered is very broad. It’s possible the observers aren’t commenting because of assumed language differences?
If you’re also a local identifier for taxa where you live and regularly make identifications for a handful of frequent observers, you may already have a reputation that you’re unaware of. It’s something that can happen if you attend a local naturalist event and happen to interact with other iNatters. It’s not uncommon to hear someone say (often excitedly), “Oh, you’re so and so on iNat!” or say that to someone else.
We had an earlier post from a Chinese university student. Expecting / hoping for a certificate from iNat to use at their university for a course credit? But iNat doesn’t do that, this is about networking rather. Or you would need your professor to set an assignment for your class? If that ‘certificate’ is what you wanted?