Hello, World!
There's something ethereal about this... Concealed but not hidden. Perhaps "looked over" is the right phrase? I'm unsure. It's as if I always knew it was there but never noticed it. Can you relate?
iNaturalist appears on my screen as a result of the subconscious mind these days. I open my computer as I sit down at my desk, and hit the "i" key and then "enter". Autofill has done the work and here I am. The familiar green and white coloration, and the drop down of updates from the users I follow. Today it's a rather artistic array of fungi, kelp and moss uploaded by @kwright . Then they appear. The red notifications drawing my attention from those observations to the mentions and new identifications on my posts or ID's. Down the rabbit hole I go. Usually...
But what if I decide to break free of this habitual iNaturalist route? What if I alter my gaze and instead look at the other features on that main page. "Home" "Profile" "Observations" "Edit Observations" "Calendar" "ID's".... Wait a minute. Calendar? Who knew that was a feature? Honestly, I hadn't realized until this writing. What else? "Lists" "Journal" "Favorites" and so on. But Journal...
This is something I'd been curious about. An iNaturalist Journal. Was this new? Decidedly not. It's always been here, beckoning users to engage with the community more. Calling as the proverbial rite-in-the-rain journal would call to an avid birder. Come. Write. Share your thoughts with the world. Enter a phase beyond that of observations, identifications, comments and private messages. Share your thoughts with the world... the world of iNaturalist journal followers. A subcommunity driven to learn, connect, and share.
So I opened the tab and started to write, and here we are. What will this be? Where will this go? Who will even read this? I've seen some use this feature to share their stories like the travel logs of botanists in the age of exploration (@brewbooks ), while others have utilized it as a way to disseminate useful information for the digital taxonomist (@anudibranchmom ), others share thoughts and essays one may expect to find as the forward of a modern nature book (@ccoslor ). The truth is there is a wide variety of ways folks write in journals, and none are right or wrong. Instead, they are windows into this community and its diverse array of users (see @chloe_and_trevor , @chlorophilia , @carexobnupta , @bobby23 for an array of journals).
Long have I dubbed iNaturalist as the Social Media for Nature Nerds, and while the social element was always there. In the familiar usernames in the comments and ID's of my favorite taxa, or the side-conversations using direct messages, or even on the iNaturalist Discord server, which admittedly I've only utilized a handful of times. But something was missing that other social media networks had. A way to share free flowing thoughts, to ignite conversation and connection outside of the run-of-the-mill pathways. So here we are. The iNaturalist Journal Community. Is this a new frontier for iNaturalist Social Connection? Or an abyss which my words may disappear into.
Let's find out together, shall we?
