Hi all! I just checked my profile today, and saw that I am only 170 IDs from 25,000!! I was so excited, and what was even more interesting was that I found it nearly five times the amount of observations I had. This got me wondering: does the majority of the community use iNat in a similar way (Addi…

[image] mkanimallover: This got me wondering: does the majority of the community use iNat in a similar way (Adding some obs, but spending more time ID’ing) No not at all. I don’t know any stats off the top of my head, but the majority of users make no IDs at all, or very few. Some one publish…

WOW!! A big congrats on 25,000 obvs!! That’s amazing!! It’s also very cool to see the distribution of contributions here!

[image] arboretum_amy: It is also worth noting that forum users do not represent the average iNat user. I agree, the forum is heavily skewed towards identifiers.

Once again, the vocal minority is the main forum userbase It would be interesting to measure observations to identification ratios instead, so that both can be analyzed per person instead of 2 separate polls that conclusions between the two can’t be taken

[image] arboretum_amy: I don’t know any stats off the top of my head, but the majority of users make no IDs at all, or very few. Some one published a paper that I could probably find if I were on a computer instead of my phone. @thomaseverest maybe? Sorry I’m not Thomas Everest, but I’ll tack…

Oof. How do I change my votes? I managed to get the categories mixed up, and put my observation number in the ID column, and vice-versa. EDIT: never mind; found it myself. I either need more sleep or more coffee. Thank you all for bearing witness to tonight’s Multi-tasking Fail… :laughing:

I know I’m a lil newbie here but I’m amazed how most voters have over 10k obs o.o I only submit observations of spiders in a very urbanized country so maybe theres that, I wish I ever get to see that many specimens to be up there :D Even so Id def say I spend most of my time adding obs, maybe I sh…

[image] dgwdoesthings: Once again, the vocal minority is the main forum userbase I think forum users tend to skew heavily towards people who (also) ID because these tend to be a) highly active and dedicated users who thus are more likely to have a strong interest in iNat and talking about iNa…

If you are familiar with the spider species in your urban area, I’m sure other users would appreciate you sharing your knowledge by adding IDs to their spider observations!

IDs vs. Observations: Please Vote!

General

mkanimallover March 18, 2026, 2:47am 5

Thank you so much!! It’s been an amazing journey and I can’t wait to see where this path takes me next!

Topic		Replies	Views
Poll: Are You Primarily an iNat Observer or Identifier? Nature Talk	102	3871	April 14, 2020
Do you make more observations on iNat or identifications General question	117	1691	February 1, 2025
Little interaction by the community General question	58	4715	January 17, 2022
I realised I was using iNat wrong! General question	69	2824	May 11, 2026
Patience is a virtue General	45	1431	April 4, 2021

IDs vs. Observations: Please Vote!

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