@pisum Remember the “assume good intentions” rule!
@questagame
I’m guessing there was a stuff-up in pushing through the wrong data, as the few I saw were largely not “comments” but were values, such as who had made the QG-side ID.
Firstly, I think a large scale test on a live system with users that have already shown a sensitivity to such things was probably not the best move here. Easy in hindsight of course!
Secondly, I think it should have been discussed with iNat developers more before running it. Easy in hindsight of course!
Lastly, what you were doing… it doesn’t really address what I was getting at. Discussion, where questions can be asked and answers given, views expressed and ideas shared. 1:1, duplex, intelligence to intelligence. I make IDs and comments on lots of observations, and many of those observers I have conversations with about what they are seeing. This forms a fundamental part of what iNat is about. When I see QG observations, yes, interesting data points… but I can’t ask questions, hold a conversation with them, or teach or learn from the connection! I am in iNat a) to share what I know, b) to add to what I know, and c) to connect with other naturalists! As the QG interface is operating at present, at best it is only as good as reading a book about what it’s participants have seen, which I can do down at the local library where they have thousands of books with nature pictures in.
What’s needed is a communication channel between iNatters and QGers, not a way to just show what the other side is saying. If QG were to have an in-game “identification bureau”, and iNatters were portrayed as staff at that bureau, and the staff at that bureau would be then asking the QGer questions about what they saw… and the QGer would reply back to the iNatter bureau staffer… “we iNatters” would appear gamified on the QG side of the conversation, and the QGers comments and answers would appear as normal comments in the iNat observations… but most importantly of all, a dialog can take place!
I’m imagining a lot of eyebrows going up at the thought of being gamified, but as a sufferer of “avoidant personality disorder” I can totally relate to a group of people that might need that in order to engage with nature and naturalists. Just consider the discussions we have had around “nope” species and gateway critters, of illustrations as a pathway to breaking down phobias on spiders etc… Like it or not, this is the world we live in!
One last point"
I’m just one “user” of iNat speaking out on how I see things… I am not staff or development, and my ideas and thoughts should not be acted on as if I were :)