i think if you frame this as “participation”, you missing some of the story if you don’t look at observations vs observers. when you break things down this way, i think you can see the Vermont situation is related to a ton of observers (Wyoming, too, although I would guess it’s more tourism-related here), while California, Texas, DC, etc. have a lot of observations per observer.
| State | Observations | Observers | Population | Area (sq km) | Observations per Observer | Diff vs Avg 50 States + DC | Obervations per 10000 Pop | Diff vs Avg 50 States + DC | Observers per 10000 Pop | Diff vs Avg 50 States + DC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 284,670 | 9,504 | 5,157,699 | 135,927.46 | 29.95 | 2.6 | 551.9 | (37.9) | 18.4 | (3.1) |
| Alaska | 100,452 | 4,177 | 740,133 | 1,704,340.35 | 24.05 | (3.3) | 1,357.2 | 767.4 | 56.4 | 34.9 |
| Arizona | 449,906 | 16,059 | 7,582,384 | 296,192.06 | 28.02 | 0.7 | 593.4 | 3.5 | 21.2 | (0.4) |
| Arkansas | 170,123 | 6,518 | 3,088,354 | 138,040.34 | 26.10 | (1.3) | 550.9 | (39.0) | 21.1 | (0.5) |
| California | 3,216,327 | 89,101 | 39,431,263 | 423,781.19 | 36.10 | 8.7 | 815.7 | 225.9 | 22.6 | 1.0 |
| Colorado | 392,715 | 18,115 | 5,957,493 | 270,036.30 | 21.68 | (5.7) | 659.2 | 69.4 | 30.4 | 8.8 |
| Connecticut | 172,634 | 8,128 | 3,675,069 | 14,354.23 | 21.24 | (6.1) | 469.7 | (120.1) | 22.1 | 0.6 |
| Delaware | 78,446 | 3,511 | 1,051,917 | 6,407.43 | 22.34 | (5.0) | 745.7 | 155.9 | 33.4 | 11.8 |
| District of Columbia | 78,085 | 4,602 | 702,250 | 177.25 | 16.97 | (10.4) | 1,111.9 | 522.1 | 65.5 | 44.0 |
| Florida | 1,048,846 | 41,532 | 23,372,215 | 170,497.52 | 25.25 | (2.1) | 448.8 | (141.1) | 17.8 | (3.8) |
| Georgia | 357,761 | 16,678 | 11,180,878 | 154,516.78 | 21.45 | (5.9) | 320.0 | (269.8) | 14.9 | (6.6) |
| Hawaii | 155,026 | 6,738 | 1,446,146 | 26,951.13 | 23.01 | (4.3) | 1,072.0 | 482.2 | 46.6 | 25.0 |
| Idaho | 116,439 | 5,365 | 2,001,619 | 216,187.34 | 21.70 | (5.7) | 581.7 | (8.1) | 26.8 | 5.2 |
| Illinois | 467,960 | 17,690 | 12,710,158 | 150,228.81 | 26.45 | (0.9) | 368.2 | (221.6) | 13.9 | (7.6) |
| Indiana | 231,645 | 10,034 | 6,924,275 | 94,261.72 | 23.09 | (4.3) | 334.5 | (255.3) | 14.5 | (7.1) |
| Iowa | 94,508 | 4,886 | 3,241,488 | 145,713.81 | 19.34 | (8.0) | 291.6 | (298.3) | 15.1 | (6.5) |
| Kansas | 99,190 | 4,513 | 2,970,606 | 213,658.58 | 21.98 | (5.4) | 333.9 | (255.9) | 15.2 | (6.4) |
| Kentucky | 163,162 | 7,551 | 4,588,372 | 104,853.22 | 21.61 | (5.7) | 355.6 | (234.2) | 16.5 | (5.1) |
| Louisiana | 185,294 | 6,989 | 4,597,740 | 136,012.22 | 26.51 | (0.8) | 403.0 | (186.8) | 15.2 | (6.4) |
| Maine | 212,436 | 9,951 | 1,405,012 | 91,575.13 | 21.35 | (6.0) | 1,512.0 | 922.2 | 70.8 | 49.3 |
| Maryland | 505,892 | 16,342 | 6,263,220 | 32,242.18 | 30.96 | 3.6 | 807.7 | 217.9 | 26.1 | 4.5 |
| Massachusetts | 601,460 | 22,485 | 7,136,171 | 27,287.26 | 26.75 | (0.6) | 842.8 | 253.0 | 31.5 | 9.9 |
| Michigan | 465,910 | 17,281 | 10,140,459 | 250,340.13 | 26.96 | (0.4) | 459.5 | (130.4) | 17.0 | (4.5) |
| Minnesota | 324,821 | 13,309 | 5,793,151 | 225,204.49 | 24.41 | (2.9) | 560.7 | (29.1) | 23.0 | 1.4 |
| Mississippi | 95,794 | 4,003 | 2,943,045 | 125,916.78 | 23.93 | (3.4) | 325.5 | (264.3) | 13.6 | (8.0) |
| Missouri | 244,877 | 10,368 | 6,245,466 | 180,898.11 | 23.62 | (3.7) | 392.1 | (197.7) | 16.6 | (5.0) |
| Montana | 90,478 | 4,730 | 1,137,233 | 380,774.01 | 19.13 | (8.2) | 795.6 | 205.8 | 41.6 | 20.0 |
| Nebraska | 61,101 | 3,125 | 2,005,465 | 200,521.70 | 19.55 | (7.8) | 304.7 | (285.1) | 15.6 | (6.0) |
| Nevada | 105,080 | 5,820 | 3,267,467 | 287,385.86 | 18.05 | (9.3) | 321.6 | (268.2) | 17.8 | (3.8) |
| New Hampshire | 185,375 | 7,613 | 1,409,032 | 24,213.98 | 24.35 | (3.0) | 1,315.6 | 725.8 | 54.0 | 32.5 |
| New Jersey | 337,135 | 13,737 | 9,500,851 | 22,617.31 | 24.54 | (2.8) | 354.8 | (235.0) | 14.5 | (7.1) |
| New Mexico | 214,553 | 8,007 | 2,130,256 | 315,620.57 | 26.80 | (0.6) | 1,007.2 | 417.4 | 37.6 | 16.0 |
| New York | 776,472 | 33,383 | 19,867,248 | 141,556.66 | 23.26 | (4.1) | 390.8 | (199.0) | 16.8 | (4.8) |
| North Carolina | 724,453 | 28,827 | 11,046,024 | 139,914.75 | 25.13 | (2.2) | 655.8 | 66.0 | 26.1 | 4.5 |
| North Dakota | 19,753 | 1,186 | 796,568 | 182,937.79 | 16.66 | (10.7) | 248.0 | (341.8) | 14.9 | (6.7) |
| Ohio | 627,136 | 21,354 | 11,883,304 | 116,260.31 | 29.37 | 2.0 | 527.7 | (62.1) | 18.0 | (3.6) |
| Oklahoma | 172,603 | 6,774 | 4,095,393 | 181,550.50 | 25.48 | (1.9) | 421.5 | (168.4) | 16.5 | (5.0) |
| Oregon | 531,826 | 19,189 | 4,272,371 | 254,577.90 | 27.72 | 0.4 | 1,244.8 | 655.0 | 44.9 | 23.4 |
| Pennsylvania | 650,366 | 26,732 | 13,078,751 | 119,388.34 | 24.33 | (3.0) | 497.3 | (92.5) | 20.4 | (1.1) |
| Rhode Island | 67,906 | 3,672 | 1,112,308 | 4,002.83 | 18.49 | (8.9) | 610.5 | 20.7 | 33.0 | 11.5 |
| South Carolina | 192,713 | 10,976 | 5,478,831 | 83,006.68 | 17.56 | (9.8) | 351.7 | (238.1) | 20.0 | (1.5) |
| South Dakota | 38,381 | 2,217 | 924,669 | 199,703.63 | 17.31 | (10.0) | 415.1 | (174.7) | 24.0 | 2.4 |
| Tennessee | 381,854 | 15,979 | 7,227,750 | 109,620.75 | 23.90 | (3.5) | 528.3 | (61.5) | 22.1 | 0.5 |
| Texas | 2,325,667 | 56,738 | 31,290,831 | 698,275.66 | 40.99 | 13.6 | 743.2 | 153.4 | 18.1 | (3.4) |
| Utah | 191,518 | 9,531 | 3,503,613 | 220,326.77 | 20.09 | (7.3) | 546.6 | (43.2) | 27.2 | 5.6 |
| Vermont | 206,912 | 7,908 | 648,493 | 24,927.65 | 26.16 | (1.2) | 3,190.7 | 2,600.8 | 121.9 | 100.4 |
| Virginia | 606,727 | 23,765 | 8,811,195 | 110,595.70 | 25.53 | (1.8) | 688.6 | 98.8 | 27.0 | 5.4 |
| Washington | 662,962 | 23,751 | 7,958,180 | 184,577.07 | 27.91 | 0.6 | 833.1 | 243.2 | 29.8 | 8.3 |
| West Virginia | 127,592 | 5,384 | 1,769,979 | 62,909.47 | 23.70 | (3.7) | 720.9 | 131.0 | 30.4 | 8.9 |
| Wisconsin | 378,283 | 13,311 | 5,960,975 | 169,549.04 | 28.42 | 1.1 | 634.6 | 44.8 | 22.3 | 0.8 |
| Wyoming | 69,125 | 4,214 | 587,618 | 253,391.55 | 16.40 | (11.0) | 1,176.4 | 586.5 | 71.7 | 50.2 |
| 20,060,350 | 733,353 | 340,110,988 | 9,823,808 | 27 | - | 589.8 | - | 21.6 | - |
…
because of the way folks learn about the platform through their networks, i don’t think the distribution you’re describing would be random.
i once posed a question about why Russia seems to have such a high level of research grade observations, and one of the responses i got makes that sort of point:
i think the above statement is supported by the numbers. although Russia does have fewer observations per capita than the US, the users it does have do make more observations per observer, and power users do seem to use the web rather than an app to make the bulk of their observations. so the typical Russian observer (based on how they use the platform) is very different from the typical US observer.
USA Verifiable Observations 2024
| Observations | % of All | Observers | % of All | Obs per Observer | population | Observations per 10000 Pop | Observers per 10000 Pop | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 20,059,814 | 100.0% | 523,082 | 100.0% | 38.35 | 340,110,988 | 589.8 | 15.4 |
| iOS | 9,272,209 | 46.2% | 358,924 | 68.6% | 25.83 | 272.6 | 10.6 | |
| Android | 4,445,684 | 22.2% | 116,333 | 22.2% | 38.22 | 130.7 | 3.4 | |
| Seek | 688,057 | 3.4% | 43,196 | 8.3% | 15.93 | 20.2 | 1.3 | |
| iOS + Android + Seek | 14,405,949 | 71.8% | 505,906 | 96.7% | 28.48 | 423.6 | 14.9 | |
| Next | 82,463 | 0.4% | 872 | 0.2% | 94.57 | 2.4 | 0.0 |
Russia Verifiable Observations 2024
| Observations | % of All | Observers | % of All | Obs per Observer | population | Observations per 10000 Pop | Observers per 10000 Pop | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 2,061,765 | 100.0% | 14,281 | 100.0% | 144.37 | 145,975,300 | 141.2 | 1.0 |
| iOS | 208,379 | 10.1% | 3,981 | 27.9% | 52.34 | 14.3 | 0.3 | |
| Android | 567,465 | 27.5% | 7,910 | 55.4% | 71.74 | 38.9 | 0.5 | |
| Seek | 12,621 | 0.6% | 804 | 5.6% | 15.70 | 0.9 | 0.1 | |
| iOS + Android + Seek | 788,464 | 38.2% | 12,435 | 87.1% | 63.41 | 54.0 | 0.9 |