I suppose what @nickhayesuk meant was that he did iNatting without the true iNat spirit. You can upload all you want, but just stop for a moment and realize how amazing iNat is. It’s like it’s been tailored to my two passions in life: nature and photography. Aren’t we so lucky to have access to something so wonderful, somewhere we can finally meet like-minded people and feel like we can help make a difference in the world even when we feel so small?
I struggled making interactions with other people as a child, partially because I’m introverted an autistic, and partially because nobody seemed to share the same interests as me. I did not see the reason to talk about boyfriends and parties and makeup when there were so many awesome animals out there. I felt alone in the world.
Now I know many people are the same as me, and I’m so glad I had a chance to meet them all. I don’t think I could live without iNat now that I’ve discovered it.
It’s not just about making a list of species and observations. It’s about the whole experience. And I suppose that true iNatting is just living iNat, embodying it, embracing it, body and soul. Thank you to all iNatters out there!
Honestly not too sure what you mean by wrong usage and treating it like a pokedex? Do you mean you were just trying to collect one of every single species, and aiming to have as many species as possible? Not a wrong usage at all, as every observation helps.
I personally use it to do a few things:
- Recording what plant species are in a specific area. I will make at least one observation of every single plant species I encounter, so that there is a record of diversity at that time.
- Recording every single instance of pest plant species. If there are 50 sycamore in one location, I will record every single one of those sycamore with as accurate a location as possible. This helps myself and others track what weeds are present where and when, and also add notes as to whether or not they’ve been dealt to and how.
- Learning what species an organism is. If I come across a strange creature, I will make an observation with the intention of learning about what it is.
- Recording seed sources. I will make an observation of specific plants with the intention of being able to revisit or direct others to them so that seed and/or cuttings can be collected for propagation.
do you also have a project for that ?
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/alien-early-detection-rapid-response-s-afr
I wonder - a hundred clicks on the Maverick link surprises me. Maverick is already too little too late - identifiers have already ‘pearled’ around the Maverick ID. But we have half a million obs in the Pre-Maverick project. 2 against 1, or the Proud Maverick against 2, depending which side you are on. Since @jeanphilippeb made a project for me you can use it as a filter - with your choice of other filters, user name, taxon, location etc.
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pre-maverick
Those are rewarding to work thru, as one more (informed) ID can tip the balance.
https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/dianastuder/77588-meet-the-pre-mavericks
I’ve never really seen a need for a project for it. If I need to find instances of a particular weed I just set it to the local area and then look up the specific weed.
It would be kind of handy though if it was possible to colour-code based on the age on the map, for a particular species of weed, but I don’t think that’s something a project can achieve?
I use the project to report aliens that need to be removed.
Colour coding might be something @pisum could suggest ?
Welcome back!
Wait! Im not meant to be trying to photodocument every species that anyone had documented in my region?
I am ranked number one in my region, but only with 1249 species out of 5430.
Shooting them all is very much one of my goals.
Sure I take images of other things, and repeat images especially of some of the species which I am one of the only observers for. But “catching them all” is part of my goal to learn all the species in my region.
Exactly that, it felt like a core component of my iNat experience was missing so that’s sort of what I meant by doing it “wrong”. I was uploading observations as a collector of species or a life list, not as a citizen scientist trying to help document from my little patch I “adopted”.
I’m also pretty introverted and neurodivergent, and I grew up with having no one like-minded to talk to about nature or even photography either. I still don’t. I quite honestly didn’t know about the community part of iNat, and I only just discovered that this forum existed as well. I was in my own little self-contained bubble just using the app to upload the “best bits”.
I’m sorry if people feel I’m in a ways attacking their way of iNatting, that wasn’t my intention.
Thank you 
Absolutely true and it seems indeed to be natural evolution of the people while getting more familiar with the platform. But some of us get saturated more easily with too many observations in a way that we observe more but see less, if it kind of makes sense…
Also, I spend enough of my paid time looking at macro data to pick up trends and make predictions to want to do that with my own observations, my hobby.
What it also shows here is that I have a more pessimistic approach about the value of my observations in areas where there are quite enough observers to feels it’s not worth it. Shooting (photos) at everything that moves (and not) is not for me. At least yet. 
That is what makes the forum interesting. Each of us has a different way of using iNat and all the threads woven together make a strong network. With people to @mention when needed.
Oh, no need to apologize. I didn’t feel the least bit offended, anyhow! :D
To point out one more thing: there is a reason this thread exists and is going on five years strong. New to you species are exciting!
There is nothing wrong about that.
How I have used it has changed. From general “oh what is this?” to “hey, I actually know some of these things” to “I want to learn more about X,Y,Z” and now it is “I like to post small projects like 10 of the same species with a measurement because I made sure the moth wings were in focus.”
This next year, after my work simmers down again, I’ll probably work on getting obs for “less observed on inat” or “edge of range” species. There are a lot of insects that I could work on, and I love the lichens but they are taking an immense amount of time to learn about/be able to ID as a hobby scientist.
But most importantly Welcome Back!
Just in case my comment felt harder than the jest intended.
When it comes to being neurodiverse, you are very much one of us.
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/neurodiversity-and-inaturalist/17268
I might just be reheating other people’s nachos here, but I too agree that that isn’t necessarily a “wrong” way to use iNat. I, and many of my friends on here, all use iNat in slightly different ways, and I think that’s the beauty of a platform like this!
For me personally, I use iNat as a digital nature journal (because I love documentation for some reason)…so whether it’s a super common species or a rarity, a DSLR photo or a phone pic, I like to upload all the reasonable observations to broaden my presence on the app, fill out my map, and document where I’ve been and what I’ve seen! Some people I know just use it to post rare species or really good photos they’ve taken, and I think that’s okay too. IMO, the only real “wrong” way to use this platform is by being insincere, missing key information that makes your observations a lower “quality”, stuff like that!
I think using features like projects (there are so many niche ones out there), the journal, and lists can help to connect more with your iNat experience and with others in the community…I’ve interacted/become acquaintances with a lot of great people through exploring the platform and reaching out! I love IDing just as much as observing as well, so I learn a lot more there too :)
Happy iNatting!!
I may be misreading what you mean, but perhaps this is your way of saying that you were using iNat with a focus on “you” rather than on “them” (the organisms), akin to collecting likes on Facebook. If there is a danger in iNat, I could see it in people using it as a status tool (“Have I seen more birds than anyone else? Let me book another climate-heating international flight to ensure that I have!”) rather than a way of learning to value and protect nature.
I love this phrase 
If it’s a way that you enjoy interacting with nature, then it helps you, and that’s all that matters. I would never discourage someone from taking a bunch of house sparrow pictures and iNatting them on the grounds that it’s not “helpful” to anyone else.
I also haven’t transferred any of my 100+ Yampers in Pokemon Go, because he just such a good boy! No one but me needs to get anything out of them being there. lol