Nonhierarchical Crowdsourced Database Users: iNaturalist Participant Trust & Motivation through an Anarchist Lens

This paper utilizes case studies to explore active users of iNaturalist, a crowdsourced database for ecological observations. This study seeks to better understand why, and to what extent, participants of a nonhierarchical citizen science project trust the quality of data they find and contribute there. The study samples a group of six local iNaturalist users who completed a weeklong diary study on their daily usage of the site and/or an interview to discuss their overarching thoughts about the site. Utilizing an anarchist lens focuses the research on the unique benefits and drawbacks of collaborative knowledge building, while the case study format of the project gives a deeper look into a subset of user experiences.