Once again, we are enlightened that part of the reason “people map” is to see the results of their mapping. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, it is part of the enjoyment of OSM mapping. Mostly, Carto indulges us in this “thrill of seeing our mapping efforts blossom” — often in mere seconds or minutes!
However, there are cases (like this one) where Carto has chosen (often for very good reasons that are subtle, may be controversial or be difficult to achieve consensus about…) to not map what is correct tagging. These choices Carto (or any renderer) makes are quite deliberate, and “are what they are.” In many people’s minds, because they don’t understand the entire toolchain of “data in OSM + any-given-renderer = visual map,” they eschew “good data” (what OSM is all about) for the petty indulgence of “a pretty visual map representation I can make and then see.” If you are generating bad data so you can see something you’d like to see: No! This is not what OSM is about.
How do some mappers do this? They tag for the (usually Carto) renderer to achieve their desired rendering. This actively puts incorrect data into our map, and we get abominations like the current (sloppy) Gulf of Mexico polygon, and strong negative reactions like Frederik “hating these beasts.” I don’t recommend actual “hate,” but I also share strong negative reaction to bad data entering our map (database).
Fellow mappers, PLEASE: understand that your data into OSM is what’s crucial. NOT “how you see it rendered.” Yes, we all understand that “seeing what you want to see” is important — that “thrill” drives a lot of motivated mappers to map — but it is far more important for our database to contain correctly-tagged data than it is for you to “see something pretty in a fashion you’d like to” (especially when that is incorrect).
I hope this thread can be one more inspiration for similar corrective actions which undo bad tagging, tagging for a renderer, and “hopeful” tagging (which isn’t true, but renders as somebody would like it to). Eventually, as people understand that “not everything one maps will be rendered,” we will get pure data into OSM, not “data as I wish to see it.” There is a difference, it is important for us to keep pointing that out, so that it doesn’t continue to happen, and so it can actually be corrected where it is incorrect (like here).
I hope this channel isn’t preaching to the converted, and I don’t mean to beat this drum so loudly that it isn’t heard anymore, but we (as a project) still have quite a bit of work to do here. Both about the awareness of “don’t tag for the renderer,” and to correct a lot of tagging which does. Regarding the former, I think that novice, less-experienced mappers are the most to blame here, and while our admonishment of “don’t do this” is fairly widespread in our project, I think a simplified educational process (maybe a wiki or ten-or-twelve slide/graphics presentation) can go a long way to explaining our “full toolchain” of how data become renderings and how bad data can seem like good renderings, when they are not. It has been tricky (and not especially successful) so far for us to “educate amongst ourselves” on this topic, and we can do better.