From some comments and discussions I’ve read, I have noticed that: Some identifiers dislike being tagged, as it makes them feel like they are performing a robotic task. Many observations, even of very common species, remain unidentified for years. Some identifiers do not use or are unaware of the …

https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-much-do-you-gamify-inaturalist/55549

Honestly I don’t think rewards for identifying would be the greatest idea, as it might lead to people adding ID’s to observations they aren’t actually knowledgeable on, just to farm rewards

[image] salix-babylonica: Maybe some shareable badges (fyi:) [image] About the Feature Requests category - please read before posting! We are not currently accepting new feature requests related to: Gamification features for iNaturalist, such as achievements, badges, and the like. The S…

I would say streamline the process of identifying would help. While identifying I guess half of the time is needed to click or tap to get to next action or observation. In other words: I usually have a time frame for identifying. I would produce more results if I would waste less time in the proces…

[image] salix-babylonica: Certain groups, such as lichens, receive very few identifications. I don’t think added rewards for identifications would help for things like lichens. They get few identifications partly because there are few experts, but also because a lot of iNat observation photos…

Fixing the atrociously inefficient notifications system is all it would take for me to start identifying stuff again. (Or if too complicated: implementing any identifier-friendly – rather than CV-friendly or observer-gamer-friendly – feature request, for that matter. I have a large list of those.)

I’m a fairly prolific identifier (closing in on 300,000 IDs for others) and I can think of a few things that slow me down in terms of making more IDs: My slow internet. That’s not a problem iNat can fix. My lack of knowledge of the identifying characters for many taxa, even with the groups I commo…

Identifying is a choice, not a requirement, so if they feel like clerks, maybe they should take a break. The reward is in seeing what’s out there, especially if you keep the IDs local, making friends (I’ve met people on here), teaching one another what to look for, and reinforcing what one’s learne…

While rewarding identifiers sounds nice, offering incentives like badges may not be a good idea. It could encourage quantity over quality, attracting people with little knowledge or interest in identification just to earn rewards. This can potentially lead to inaccurate IDs. Some users already prior…

The joy of being able to go through a bunch of other people’s observations and add IDs, plus the occasional tag or thank you is enough reward for me!

Should There Be More Reward Mechanisms for Identifiers?

General

bouteloua March 15, 2025, 1:53pm 4

(fyi:)

Topic		Replies	Views
The Pleasure of Identifying General	24	1082	July 21, 2024
Identify identifiers IDs General identify	126	3885	September 13, 2025
Paper about inaturalist The benefits of contributing to the citizen science platform iNaturalist as an identifier General	67	4109	January 8, 2023
Rampant guessing of IDs General	135	9460	July 21, 2021
Downsides of more identifiers? General identification	91	2945	July 11, 2026

Should There Be More Reward Mechanisms for Identifiers?

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