A couple of things. 4-5 months is not a long time to become comfortable with iNat. Took me a couple of years to sort out a lot of stuff. A benefit of doing identifications is that it really helps you learn stuff. I focus on Canadian moths, and will often go through one species and identify all observations that need it. It helps me learn the variation in how they look. It also helps build relationships. I have far more people I can contact for advice on a moth than when I started. And most importantly, donāt be afraid to ask questions! Fantastic way to learn.
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I have found this is not a toxic site. There are a few abrasive people, but on the whole my experience has been great. People are generally willing to help, and disagreements settled without rancour. I believe others have had a slightly different experience every now and then, and with some taxa there is more āstressā(?) involved, but otherwise, good people!
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Thanks for joining us in making identifications! Iām not a naturalist at allā¦ but I thought I knew a thing or two about identification, made terrible mistakes, and then scaled back to identifying āunknownsā - the things with no identification on them at all. There are many of these, and they often get forgotten because the user doesnāt realize how important it is to have some kind of category placed on their observation, and the identifiers focus on filtering for their specialty and never see them. So if you feel uncertain, that can be a good place to start. Anyone can do it.
I regained some confidence and now I try to take care of identifying maybe 10 different species of plants that I have spent some extensive time withā¦ but as others said, if a mistake is made, no big deal - we are all here to learn.
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Yes to pfau_tarletonās advice! Excellent advice.
And to add to pfauās suggetions, start following some of the users, especially IDers, in your area. Theyāll get a notification that youāre following them, theyāll be curious about you, and will be more likely to look into your observations. Use the comments field to ask questions about their observations and IDs ā this will initiate the direct interaction youāre looking for.
Also, consider whether you could arrange a Bioblitz in your region, and invite all these users. Nothing will serve your needs better than getting to know your colleagues in person!
Like you, I started out in 2015 in an essentially un-explored region, the Llano Estacado, and today am amazed how many people are working there. Youāll look back in a few years and be similarly amazed at your own impact!
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7 posts were split to a new topic: This site hard to use
This topic was automatically opened after 14 minutes.
So far, tagging has only been mentioned in passing. Please ignore this, if itās something you already know aboutā¦
Visit any iNaturalist taxon page, and note that there is a ātop identifierā named, and also a link to the leaderboard of identifiers. When you visit that leaderboard, you can filter it for the geographic place that pertains. Having chosen potential identifiers, return to your observation, and create a comment in which you tag one or more of them as follows: @ellen5 (using my own handle, ellen5, as an example). That user will get a notification with a link to your observation.
This can be a useful option, and many identifiers do enjoy being tagged, especially for something novel. But I donāt prefer to tag too often ā out of respect for the expertsā valuable time.
This was meant to be a general topic reply, not directed to any response, but the system seems to insist that it knows better than I do who is being addressed.
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Just a note (not specifically to you, but to others who may be reading) that this is technically referred to as āmentioningā rather than ātaggingā. Many users call it tagging, but it can be confusing to see both without any explanation
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also, if you are mentioning someone for help with an ID itās a good idea to make sure they are also active in doing IDs in the same general area as you. I get @'s from all over the world and while they donāt bother me particularly, thereās not much chance i know plants in say, southern Mexico, or Africa.
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Thanks - never realised, but wait, thereās more for that.
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The problem is that there are so many new observations piling on every day, and most IDers look at the newest first (the default). So if something hasnāt been IDed within the first couple days, expect it to sit a looooooong time before someone happens to look at it.
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When I do ID help i usually choose the ārandomā option, itās a good mix of new and old.
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I do not get a notification actually. Iām always shocked when I see how many followers I have, because I donāt know about them until I check my profile.
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Yeah, iNat doesnāt tell you when someone starts following you.
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Hello and welcome! I get how this can be frustrating, butā¦there may be a few things you could do to spark more engagement.
The first is to try to ID things to general levels. I donāt know if youāve done this or not, but likeā¦Iāve noticed you will get more attention on something IDāed to level of genus or family, or other broad grouping, than something just identified as āplantsā. Part of this is that there are users who are good at IDāing certain taxa and go through them. For example, I like to go through oaks in my area, because Iām reasonably confident with them, but if someone doesnāt take the ID to the level of oaks, I wonāt see it.
Also, donāt be shy about tagging people. Look through leaderboards, and make sure to restrict the leaderboard to your region. Then check and find the top two people who are good at IDing that taxon, in your region, and who are still active on the site. I love being tagged in this way and am always glad to try to help, sometimes I can and sometimes I canāt. Also I find other people are usually glad to help, and Iāve solved a good number of mysteries this way.
You can also message people. Iāve had people message me saying: āHey I have a lot of observations of X, and I see you are good at IDing that, could you see if any of my observations could make research grade?ā and then Iāll go through a bunch of them. In many cases I mark all or most of them IDāed so it can reach research grade, others I might feel unsure, but Iāve still helped as able!
Also, if you engage with IDing other peopleās observations you will start learning more which will make it easier for you to ID your own stuff. It also may spark engagement on your posts. Some people will follow you and then start IDing your posts if they see them on your dashboard. I follow a few people and occasionally ID their posts just because they pop up that way for me.
I canāt emphasize enough though that one of the best ways to use iNaturalist is to use it for you to personally get better at ID and then share that knowledge by IDing what you know how to ID. Also, donāt be shy about engaging in discussion. Ask people: āHow are you IDāing it as this species?ā You will learn a lot. Occasionally youāll prompt someone to correct an incorrect ID. Discussion is often the best way to help everyone get better at ID. And, as you and the people you interact with get better at ID, more observations will get IDāed.
Keep in mind, iNaturalist looks like a big site but it can be hyper local. Like, I started IDāing local observations and then a few days later I ran into this guy on the trail and heās likeā¦āOh, hello, youāre the person who has been IDāing my observations on iNaturalist!!!ā and I made a new friend! And we have been teaching each other a TON about plant ID, in person, and learning much faster than just relying on online. So likeā¦part of this is using the site to connect with people so that you can build a community around you who supports each other in learning and IDing each otherās stuf!
So there are many different ways to engage. Basically, seek them out, put more energy in, and itāll happen!
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That happens to me a lot. Iāve had people walk right up and say, āAre you Amy? I have questions about iNaturalistā
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ive met people out in the woods that i know from iNat too!
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Pareto Principle ish.
One person posts.
9 more engage (comment, like ā¦)
But those first 10 forget, there are another 90 quietly reading along ((Iām interested, Iām learning, but I donāt have anything to add)) I hate when that is called ālurkingā. We are the silent majority.
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Iāve been using iNat for some years and seem to have overlooked this ā¦ a āsocial networking sideā? Where would I find that please? This forum isnāt really social networking ā¦ so what am I missing?
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