@pisum was using this term like it was a real term (it is), but I didn’t know it, so I looked it up:
I think we need better merch. Like merch that rotates per season. I really would like to donate but i would also love to have some sort of Inaturalist badge to show off.
Sadly all the available merch is very repetitive and dare i say boring. Why not do calendars with your yearly observations? or maybe magnets? cool EDC stuff life fanny packs or slings with renown brands like peakdesign or northface? There are so many opportunities.
All that said i personally would like some stiched velcro patches with the logo.
There is a balance. Also INaturalist needs to grow connect more. If the goal is outreach remaining invisible is not good. There used to be tons of brands offering sustainable products. A team of experts can pick some of those and then we can vote (points for in app voting like the donations button).
I naturalist is a great enterprise but it needs to generate revenue or it risks becoming another firefox or many of the other well intention projects that end up relying on founding from sources that are unethical to their mission.
Please make an effort this new year to make me want to buy new merch. If that is not possible then bite the bullet and make the app a subscription just please do not sell your customers data for revenue.
iNat is not struggling with either lack of growth or lack of visibility. On the contrary, I suspect at present more relevant challenges are going to be figuring out how to manage the growth it is seeing without that negatively affecting either the community or the ability to fund running costs.
Some may feel that more consumerism is not particularly compatible with their values and a commitment to trying to tackle the global environmental crisis – even if the products in question are marked as being sustainable. It is also worth noting that as a general rule your money would go further to help iNat if you donate directly, because merchandise is handled by a third-party that also needs to cover its costs. This applies even if you are buying products that you would be using anyway.
Please note that I am not criticizing iNat’s decision to make merchandise available. If there is a demand in the community and it makes people happy and sends a bit of money iNat’s way, I think it is great. But it would make me question iNat’s priorities if it seemed that a lot of effort was being put into creating new merchandise several times a year merely to awaken appetites for more stuff and keep people buying.
I would prefer not to see this – it seems like it would contradict the basic goal of helping everyone engage with nature with as few barriers to participation as possible. Even a tiered model with a free basic account and a subscription for extra features would need to be considered very carefully to prevent a two-class system from arising. I have seen too many websites where the introduction of subscriptions has irreparably damaged both the experience of users and the community.
There are already MANY people for whom the barrier of cell phone and internet connection excludes them.
Subscription would make iNat elite, and change the whole focus.