i’m careful about keeping my ID counts higher than my obs counts to avoid taking more than i give, but after reading these comments i’m thinking i should start aiming for at least twice as many IDs as observations going forward. some pretty big discrepancies there if 75% of IDs come from 1% of users, although i would also be interested in seeing what those numbers look like if only counting users who remain active more than a year (i.e. filtering out casual one-off users who may post a few times max to the app and then never come back).
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If you usually upload your obs with your own ID - then the ratio is 1.25
If without an ID then 2.5
The ‘and a bit’ covers the ones that need more discussion.
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That’s a best practice for a civilian iNatter. One thing this poll makes clear is, most forum users are not civilians!
For our many forum members who are not from North America, above is the technical definition of civilian. I use it in this context to mean someone who is more advanced or more experienced than the average user. For example, a member of The Ten Thousand Club!
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good point, thank you! i never upload without an ID, so should be good if i can get up to 2:1. tough to balance with a full 9-5, unfortunately, so may take some time yet.
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Wait, so do observations you ID’ed yourself show up in your actual number? I’ve seen myself near the top of leaderboards for some species, but those count my own ID’s. I guess it’s so people hoping to @mention those who are more knowledgeable take us into account. I haven’t seen those numbers on the actual list (e.g., I top the leaderboard for sminthurinus minutus, a springtail, but that is because I am the top observer of them. When you actually click on the species, there is someone else listed as top ID’er because they ID’ed more for others than I have so far for that species).
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Someday I hope to mention being a super ID’er as causally as that 
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I think what iNat counts is ‘IDs for others’
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as Diana said, the number on your profile coincides with IDs for others, although it may vary a bit depending on where you look.
I have:
29,372 IDs for others, 29,387 IDs for others, or 31,342 IDs for others, and
54,778 IDs total, including for my own observations.
Not 100% what the discrepancies are due to, although it’s possible the number in the first link may just need a few more minutes to update to match the number in the 2nd link. The 3rd number includes IDs on casual observations.
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I have noticed that my profile info is a bit slow regarding ID’s, since I generally make over 100 a day, but when I click on the ID section, it shows me the (hopefully) accurate number of ID’s, which is always higher.
A difference of over five hundred ID’s!
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I already know mine. I’ve been keeping a fairly steady ratio of IDs to observations that comes to IDs = 2x observations +> 3000.
@moyalem, welcome! Despite the numbers, spiders are chronically underobserved, IM(NS)HO. Keep uploading those Araneae!
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It seems that not only are prolific observers and identifiers overrepresented in the forum, they also disproportionately enjoy participating in polls about those numbers.
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Maybe - since I joined iNat that has changed from
My IDs on mine AND my IDs on yours
to only
My IDs on yours
by way of encouraging us to - do that ! - ID for others please.
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I have roughly 11,400 observations vs. just over 48,000 IDs so def more IDs than observations.
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I would be interested to see a poll on annotations added to the list. I feel like IDs get most of the attention (as they should, they are integral to how iNat works) and annotations are just an afterthought.
I have be going through all Lepidoptera in Ohio and adding a life stage annotation, it makes IDing easer (I’m better at IDing caterpillars then the adult), and if I’m looking for a specific species it’s easy to see when (not just where) I should be looking for the caterpillars.
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Same. I’m curious to see who has achieved a Triple 10 (at least 10k Observations, 10k IDs, and 10k Annotations).
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The immense imbalance between my submission of personal observations and the making of ID’s is accounted for by the fact that for the last four years I’ve been the carer at home for my late wife ~ sadly she passed away only yesterday. During that time I was really not able to travel too far from home … so observing wildlife mainly from on our own land, and anything else was a rare experience. In the weeks and months to come I hope to gradually expand my range and ability to travel further afield to reserves etc
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Nigel,
You have almost 120 times as many IDs as Obervations. But you have thousands of Observations! You’ve not only been caring for your wife; you’ve also been caring for countless users of iNaturalist, by sharing your expertise about the natural world. Thank you!
I’m sorry for your loss. Our world can shrink when our days revolve around caregiving for a loved one.
When you can only observe at home, you might take inspiration from someone like Elliott Gordon:
We look forward to your observations!
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My sympathies on your loss
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I’m so sorry for your loss. Thank you for all your contributions to iNat!
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I’m only a member of one of those clubs (ID’s made), but I’m proud of it!!
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