(Hey all, please remember you can reply to multiple people in the same post by quoting them)
I’m sorry this happened. If this happens again, please notify help@inaturalist.org so we can investigate and see if there’s a pattern. If you want to delete the observation, please send us screenshots of the content before doing so.
Working on some drafts this week, actually, which is exciting! But it will take time to work through it and then implement, unfortunately. Keep in mind that onboarding needs to be drafted, then refined, then designs must be finished, then it also needs to be coded correctly, etc, etc. And all of us are working on multiple projects at the same time.
More broadly, I think it’s important for us to step back and remember a few things:
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Very few of us know each other outside of iNat. We’re a global community of people with incredibly diverse histories, cultures, languages, and ways of experiencing the world. We don’t know each others’ backgrounds or what anyone might be going through at the moment. We don’t know how someone communicates in person, and we can easily misinterpret tone, intention, etc. That’s why the iNat Community Guidelines ask that we assume others mean well. So if something rubs you the wrong way, try to start off by assuming the best unless there is a lot of evidence to the contrary.
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Conversely, we don’t know how our words might be construed (or misconstrued) by others, so the burden is also on us to use diplomatic language - especially with strangers. What we intend and what is heard by others can be quite different. For example, I’m a pretty sarcastic person among those who know me well, but I do my best to not bring that to discussions here and on iNat. We all slip up sometimes, though, and don’t realize it. I’d say in those situations, it’s best to provide calm, constructive feedback to the person, let them know how their words were interpreted, and try to reach an understanding. If not, then disengagement might be necessary.