My iNat user name has been Botswanabugs because I’m interested in the insects of Botswana but should I consider changing it to my real name Tony_Benn1, so that the data I collect and submit may have more validity, acceptability and usefulness by the scientific community ? Are there many ‘real’ sci…

This sums up my feelings on the topic tbh. What makes my username less “real” just because I primarily use it online? There are plenty of people who only know me by this name.

I don’t think using a nickname should be a huge obstacle for the usefulness of your data. I do not use my real name up front, but several of my observations have been used in the past anyways.. usually the person interested in using it just contacts me and asks for how to credit me.. I do give my na…

I agree, a name adds no value other than contact information. I remember that iNat explicitly asked me to use my real name, when I singed up, tho. At first, I considered not to ended up doing it anyways. I was quite confused when I saw made up usernames shortly after but never thought about it aga…

[image] lizaeckardt: I_Like_Big_Bugs carries more weight than I_Like_Big_Butts. I wonder if anyone has taken the username Ilikebigbugsandicannotlie

I tell people to pick whatever user name they want but to use some variation of their real name as display name since that is the one that gets cited in GBIF. And maybe some folks are ok being cited as I_like_Big_Bugs but I’m stuffy enough to want my real name attached to any citations. That said,…

A lot if times I have to download the original photos from the observations to see them at a better resolution (I delete them weekly). So far all of them show the real name as the copyright owner. When photos are loaded to ALA, they display the copyright name. (I just checked: there are pseudonym…

I aggregate observation data from several sources. The person who did this work before me only used iNat observations from users who provided their real names (either in their profiles or in response to private email/message). He was originally from the UK. As the number of iNat observations incr…

UK user here… and very interested in the interface between iNat and our long-standing national recording schemes. I fully endorse what @josscarr said above. And I would point out that even in the UK it is the display name not the username that is relevant, because that is what gets passed on to th…

Even when asked how I would like to be credited for one of my iNat observations, I tell them to use my username. It makes it easier to google than my real name when I am curious if/when any have been used in research.

Should my user name include my real name so that my observations have more value?

General

DianaStuder January 4, 2026, 6:58am 31

I remember at least one iNatter who left, after cycling thru a few names - due to stalking - also of their family. Left a friendly gap here.

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Should my user name include my real name so that my observations have more value?

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