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"... Instagram enables easy sign up via just an email address" Is the "easy sign up" such an important selling point, that anything more complicated drives awa

"... Instagram enables easy sign up via just an email address" Is the "easy sign up" such an important selling point, that anything more complicated drives away users? I'm wondering how could be possible to avoid hoarding burner accounts just for the sake of trolling, while at the same time not requiring 1Billion people to send in scans of their ID to prove their identity. Not to mention that even requiring ID for proving identity, one can still troll and harass as long as it's not caught on the fact

danso 8y ago
IIRC, virtually every service just requires an email address, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter. I’ve found that Twitter now quickly throttles any dummy accounts I make by requiring a phone number. But obviously, there’s huge downsides to requiring a phone number.
bearcobra 8y ago
Requiring confirmation with an SMS code seems like a reasonable step to tie accounts to a more permanent identifier which can then be used for moderation.
- tracker1 8y ago
  For a nominal fee, one can get a burner phone/account to sign up for any number of sites. It does very little to de-anonymize someone.
  - GavinMcG 8y ago
    But it does a lot to weed out the many harassers who aren't that motivated.
  - scott_s 8y ago
    It doesn't de-anonymize someone, but it's a much bigger hurdle than an email address, which is free and someone can get on a whim. More friction could curb troll accounts.
    - doyoulikeworms 8y ago
      And existing anti-troll measures will be more effective, able to focus on fewer trolls (presumably)
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- jonknee 8y ago
  But this is Facebook we're talking about, they'll just use that for creepy advertising targeting and not take the harassment seriously.
  - marcodave 8y ago
    exactly. Requiring to input a phone number to receive a SMS to confirm my identity is a big letdown (for me at least). The best thing I can think of, albeit against the core concept of socializing, is the equivalent of PageRank, for social networks. More or less how StackOverflow works, or here in HN, where with my meager karma I cannot downvote. Of course this is complicated, and does not work for gathering the millions of users for advertising purposes. So, we have to deal with the harassers and trolls, alas :/

danso 8y ago

IIRC, virtually every service just requires an email address, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter. I’ve found that Twitter now quickly throttles any dummy accounts I make by requiring a phone number. But obviously, there’s huge downsides to requiring a phone number.

bearcobra 8y ago

Requiring confirmation with an SMS code seems like a reasonable step to tie accounts to a more permanent identifier which can then be used for moderation.

tracker1 8y ago
For a nominal fee, one can get a burner phone/account to sign up for any number of sites. It does very little to de-anonymize someone.
- GavinMcG 8y ago
  But it does a lot to weed out the many harassers who aren't that motivated.
- scott_s 8y ago
  It doesn't de-anonymize someone, but it's a much bigger hurdle than an email address, which is free and someone can get on a whim. More friction could curb troll accounts.
  - doyoulikeworms 8y ago
    And existing anti-troll measures will be more effective, able to focus on fewer trolls (presumably)
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
jonknee 8y ago
But this is Facebook we're talking about, they'll just use that for creepy advertising targeting and not take the harassment seriously.
- marcodave 8y ago
  exactly. Requiring to input a phone number to receive a SMS to confirm my identity is a big letdown (for me at least). The best thing I can think of, albeit against the core concept of socializing, is the equivalent of PageRank, for social networks. More or less how StackOverflow works, or here in HN, where with my meager karma I cannot downvote. Of course this is complicated, and does not work for gathering the millions of users for advertising purposes. So, we have to deal with the harassers and trolls, alas :/