I’ve just passed 1K identifications and my experience of doing ID’s has changed dramatically. At first, it was, “Oh, I know that one!” and it was all very simple and straightforward. Now, things end up in a few categories: I’m blind to everything except plants. I don’t know enough about this and…

[image] anastasiiamerkulova: I still don’t fully understand how to deal with duplicate observations. Very often, users don’t respond to requests to delete duplicates. I don’t think we’re allowed to do much about this. Everyone has a different definitions of what constitutes a duplicate and s…

Do you use a text expander for your comments ? https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/use-a-text-expander-browser-extension-to-quickly-enter-frequently-used-text/42842

Clearly you’re feeling frustration with the behavior of others as you ID. I hear you, but what you are doing is important and adds materially to the value of iNaturalist. Just keep doing the part that’s fun and interesting, and try to let the stuff you can’t control wash by. And keep in mind that…

If just 1% of observers identified 100 observations in a day, we would reduce the number of IDs of Needs ID observations by a good amount (10-20%). Unfortunately, there are not nearly enough identifiers on Inat. Whether it be due to a knowledge gap, unwillingness, or unfamiliarity—many observers sti…

[image] anastasiiamerkulova: . . .people who add third or fourth confirming IDs to almost everything. [image] anastasiiamerkulova: It makes me feel as if my identification work was done in vain, as if I wasted time that could have been spent identifying observations where no experts are p…

[image] roadside_rambler: I do kind of hope no one is spending hours adding superfluous ID’s in the belief that they’re making a difference, but if they’re doing it for enjoyment I think it’s harmless, and doesn’t detract from what we do. It’s probably harmless in most cases, but there are oc…

Oh yeah, I run into that too. I was only referring to correct ID’s of already research grade observations as “harmless.” If they’re incorrect at RG and then more people pile on. . . Very frustrating!

Just topped 12K this a.m., though less than a full year using iNat. How did that happen?!?!?! It is amazing to realize how much I have learned and gotten comfortable with. I agree with the virtually all of the above. I think there are a number of reasons that people may add ID #3, 4, 5, 6…. to an o…

We might be getting a bit off topic, discussing confirming IDs? Not sure. It might actually still be on topic, because frustration with confirming IDs might build when you do more IDs. Anyway, this thread is not in the “Related topics” suggestions below, and it was a popular post, so you might want…

What ID'ing feels like at around 1K ID's

General

oksanaetal February 1, 2026, 4:45pm 17

I don’t consider myself an identifier, but apparently I’m at 6000 something? I guess I learned that times does fly a bit when you’re enjoying yourself.

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