These changes apply only to this browser tab, until you leave the map or refresh the page (press F5 or click on the refresh button of the web browser). No risk.
I suggest you bump up refactoring and improving Explore on the mobile app to high priority, demoting other development targets as needed.
Search tools such as the Explore page are the main reward to users for contributing observations. Without a feature-rich and useful search page, there is little motivation to continue contributing observations and identifications. Users need a way to make use of the aggregate observation database they helped build. How you well you develop Explore will be the key to iNaturalist’s long-term survival and success.
I should add that I am a late career scientist, botanist (and naturalist in general) and application developer. I am also a heavy contributor to eBird, in part because they pay me back by providing useful search tools. If they had an interface like iNaturalist I never would have started contributing in the first place.
But iNaturalist…I sign on about once a year to see if the limited search tools have improved, but they never do, so I sign off again. Why put effort into something I can’t use?
Welcome to the forum! The developers are already working on a new mobile app, so this should in progress. But giving details about what you are looking for would probably be helpful.
Do you only use iNaturalist on a mobile device? If so then yes, the Explore page (espeically for iOS/iPadOS) is quite barebones. As @thomaseverest said, we’re working on a new mobile app and it will have expanded search capabilities compared to the current iOS/iPadOS app.
Have you used the iNaturalist website’s Explore page? That’s what this topic is about, not the mobile app Explore page. While it definitely needs improvement, it’s pretty powerful as is.
Allow users to see observations from users who blocked them. If it isn’t the default option, there should be a query/setting to include observations from users who blocked you.
I think it goes against the open access aspect of the site that users can’t see observations from users who blocked them. It also seems pointless, given that they can see the observations if they log out. It’s true that many other platforms hide posts from blocked users, but those platforms are social media sites, not citizen science sites.
what is the point of blocking if it …doesn’t block…? And if you don’t see any point in blocking… count yourself lucky for not having been the victim of harassment.
The request is allowing users to SEE observations from people who’ve blocked them. Interaction still wouldn’t be allowed. This is change I am very in favor of.
so what is the point of blocking someone if they can still see your posts and harass you about them offsite? Honest question. Because yes, i have experienced this sort of harassment and i know many others have as well. And when i tried to defend myself i got in trouble on iNat, so ‘thick skin’ isn’t an option either… my skin was TOO think and spiky and that also wasn’t ok.
The negative consequences of hiding observations from blocked users outweigh the benefits. Most blocked users are likely not harrassers or stalkers or anything like that. Some people block people for being “rude” once, or for mere disagreement.
Hiding any observations from anyone, even if they are a harrasser or stalker, is very problematic on a scientific platform like iNat. It can hurt scientific research. And the reason I said it’s pointless is because the blocked user can still view your observations if they log out.
In fact, I feel like the hiding of observations from blocked users may actually escalate situations of harassment or stalking. I think a blocked user may be pretty mad that they can’t even see observations from the person who blocked them. I’m mad I can’t see [username removed by moderator]'s observations, and would hardly care that he blocked me if his observations weren’t hidden from me. I wouldn’t harrass or stalk him over that though, but other blocked users might, especially if they were harassing/stalking the user who blocked them to begin with.
Edit: Why has this been flagged? I could remove the inappropriate part, if you would tell me what it was.
I’m not sure how related this is to the topic of this thread, but anyway I think that users should absolutely be able to prevent other users from seeing their observations (or at least certain details of them, not sure which beyond location). Maybe there should be a checkbox option, for harassment just prevent interaction but for stalking also prevent viewing observations.
I would really like this to change, given the above. Like only show a grid on species maps if you’re logged out, don’t show maps at all for filtering by specific users… eBird doesn’t show detailed maps unless you’re logged in, and I think that’s wise. It gives all its users some privacy and gives some control over who has access to detailed location information.
For many of us, the location history for a significant portion of our lives is documented in detail on iNaturalist and while I think it’s worth the risk for all the benefits, I would really appreciate this basic layer of privacy control.
It sounds like the solution is to close that loophole. If sites can recognize when you are signing in from a different device, there should be a feasible solution.
Of course it’s relevant, this thread is about improvements to the Explore/Observations search page. This is one of those improvements.
And to hide information from users who aren’t logged in would go against the whole open access thing. I already find it annoying when sites force you to log in to see things, and those are social media sites. iNat is not social media, it’s a science site.
If someone would rather someone who harasses or stalks them not see their observations, maybe they should not post them then, or delete them. There’s also the obscure feature. They do not have the right to deny anyone the ability to see accurate data on iNat.
That can easily be circumvented. One can easily use a VPN, proxy or Tor. And I think most people have dynamic IP addresses. It would also go against the open access aspect of the site, and for what? By the way, the ability to view observations from users who have blocked you by logging out is actually how iNaturalist’s staff justify hiding observations from blocked users.
While only logged users can see eBird data, anyone can create an eBird account, and eBird does not have a blocking feature. Or an obscuration feature, for that matter.
so basically you are saying marginalized people shouldn’t be here. it should only be the elite who can protect themselves. Safety for others doesn’t matter. I guess you fancy yourself one of the elite who won’t ever get harassed. It must be nice.
I know there aren’t easy answers here but your posts really just show you’ve never had to deal with a wide range of horrible thigns many people have. It’s worth having empathy for others instead of an “i’ve got mine, i don’t see a problem to me, so who cares if others suffer, it must be their fault anyway” attitude.
Of course safety matters, and marginalised people should be here. But I do not see how hiding your observations from specific people is necessary for safety or anything like that. Like I said, there’s an obscure feature.
And people who really need to hide things from harassers and stalkers for their own safety need to be smart about it. Observations are public. Everyone can see them. Even blocked users, if they log out. And even if iNat tried to stop that, they could easily get around it. If you really want to hide something, the only way is to make it private.
Based on the first statement, the second statement can’t be supported. We all absolutely have that right. One can only imagine all the accurate data that have never and will never be posted on iNaturalist. Our access to the data that are here is a privilege to be earned, not a right.
