If I didn’t make a typo in my changeset comments, did I really publish a changeset at all?

Mapper Profile:

I was likely one of the first Pokémon GO inspired mappers, I put my boots on the ground to survey and map a small cemetery on the 23rd of May, 2016. My hope was that it would add more ghost Pokémon in my local area, but it had no such effect,

After several years and around 9000 changesets, I’m still learning. Constructive feedback is always appreciated and welcome. I try to maintain a good understanding of the best mapping practices as they evolve and change, and I’m always working to diversify and refine my OSM-craft.

My original focus was mapping all the parks and recreation grounds in my local region and beyond. I have since shifted my attention to reducing the impact of other Pokémon GO inspired mappers who have less than honest intentions, and also doing my best to reduce erroneous usage of certain tags such as universities and adult colleges being tagged as (primary/high) schools. I also occasionally work with Pokémon GO trainers around the world to help improve the map in their local area and teach them OSM skills.

I believe in positive, proactive, survey/local knowledge-informed mapping where possible. I also believe in mapping that abides by established and accepted conventions and contributes to OSM in a way that benefits all users.

I’m a fan of the convenience the iD editor brings, but will happily swap to JOSM if and when situations call for it.

Personal Profile:

My real name is Daniel, I’m from a mixed conservation/land management and design and technology background. I currently run a small business and I’m in my mid 30s.

I was born and raised South of Perth, Western Australia. I’m currently based North of Sydney, but I get around New South Wales reasonably often, especially the Greater Sydney and Newcastle areas.

My hobbies include hiking, semi-casual gaming, cooking, and of course, mapping! I have a Japanese Spitz dog named Shiro who often accompanies me when I’m out hiking or surveying a park to map.

I am a Pokémon Go player and I am very interested in the interactions between Pokémon Go, OpenStreetMap and S2 Geometry. I have been published on The Silph Road, republished on Pokémon Go Hub, and have been cited on Gamepress, Eurogamer, Polygon, and in the International Journal of Geo-Information.

My dream is to see a situation in which Pokémon Go (and other map-based game) players have an overall positive and respectful impact on OpenStreetMap - in other words, I’m not here to make or encourage incorrect or invalid edits that will mess up the map for everyone else.

So, I Removed the Park That You Drew Over Your House:

Firstly, don’t get your pants in a knot, you aren’t the first person to have the bright idea of adding something fictional to OSM. Over the past year, literally thousands of fictional edits were added and subsequently removed from the map. Do yourself a favor and become acquainted with the Tragedy of the Commons.

OSM is used by many organizations, including some you might know. Many of the organizations that use OSM data are pretty important, and they rely on their map data being as accurate as possible. If the thousands of bad edits that occur on OSM were allowed to stay, the whole thing would become pretty useless pretty quickly - which would, in turn, would mean that no one would be able to confidently update their map data to include any improvements or changes that have occurred.

If you want some advice on how to best make legitimate, valid edits to the map which will improve things for everyone and will (possibly) have a positive impact on something like Pokémon Go, my inbox is always open, even if you’ve made fictional changes in the past - let’s learn to be better mappers together!

Profile Picture:

Mt Wondabyne, looking over Brisbane Water National Park towards the Woy Woy Peninsula and Brisbane Water. Central Coast, NSW.