Interesting place, iNaturalist. I think it is addictive the way that Facebook is addictive. Social stroking for those who contribute. One of the better addictions, perhaps.

I should know about internet addiction. I came late to the internet, first going online in 2001. By about 2005 I was posting in forums, and getting more and more political. In local forums like the defunct lubbockonline forums and Talk Lubbock I probably posted 50,000 times. When all those forums went to the great ether in the sky I got more involved on Facebook, treating it as not only a public diary but a collection of links that interested me each day and including my own nature observations and selected photos.

Internet activities consumed a lot of my time that otherwise might have been devoted to family and legal career. Now my significant others are gone and there is no career that I care about. On the positive side, so much writing and argument made me a better writer, doing what umpteen years of education did not.

iNaturalist is more scientific with objective peer input. A healthier more responsible addiction? Certainly it promotes environmental knowledge and responsibility, and that has to be among the most important objectives in life.