6 ms·

...of Ulm ;) Name forms really should just be: Your full legal name: [accepts anything, modifies nothing] Shortened name of your choice for our UI: [can have

...of Ulm ;) Name forms really should just be: Your full legal name: [accepts anything, modifies nothing] Shortened name of your choice for our UI: [can have restrictions, esp. length]

iudqnolq 6y ago
I feel like the pattern of names in the UI comes from wanting to justify collecting the name in the first place. What is it actually good for?
- will4274 6y ago
  Phone, email, messenger, basically any collaboration software? My university assigned email addresses by initials - e.g. if you name was John Anderson Smith and you were the 167th person with the initials JAS, you'd be jas167@example.edu. Which is easier to find, search, and read in a contact list - John Smith or jas167?
- toast0 6y ago
  Hello X near the content you're looking for is a confirmation that you're logged in; without having to look at the header (which is usually more explicit). Having a friendly name there is an attempt to use less space.
- tomp 6y ago
  Indeed. I consider "gender" even sillier - e.g. Facebook adding 100s of different genders to their website - how about just removing the field altogether? Same about "legal sex" - why would the government care in the first place?! (Doctors might, but the rest of the government, not really.)
  - ponker 6y ago
    This is for Facebook's ad targeting. They want advertisers to be able to advertise to 21-24 year old women in California.
    - jfengel 6y ago
      They can probably infer it as accurately as asking people. The inference isn't always accurate, but people don't always tell the truth, either.
      - ecnahc515 6y ago
        They can do both. Someone lying or their inference being wrong about their gender is yet another new data point.
  - wang_li 6y ago
    Different sexes have different civic obligations. E.g. Selective Service, a.k.a the draft, in the US.
    - jfk13 6y ago
      Sounds like it's ripe for a discrimination lawsuit.
      - dragonwriter 6y ago
        > Sounds like it's ripe for a discrimination lawsuit. Such a lawsuit has occurred: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coalition_for_Men_v._Selective_Service_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coalition_for_Men_v._...
  - InitialLastName 6y ago
    I can see wanting to know what pronouns someone uses so you can autogenerate reasonable sentences about that person (i.e. "Tomp marked himself safe from the rabid bears in Honolulu")
- ponker 6y ago
  When I'm looking at my contacts in Google Docs or Slack or whatever it's critical to have the names there. If it was bigchungus12@gmail.com and db23423@exxon.com it would be very annoying.

...of Ulm ;) Name forms really should just be: Your full legal name: [accepts anything, modifies nothing] Shortened name of your choice for our UI: [can have restrictions, esp. length]

iudqnolq 6y ago

I feel like the pattern of names in the UI comes from wanting to justify collecting the name in the first place. What is it actually good for?

will4274 6y ago
Phone, email, messenger, basically any collaboration software? My university assigned email addresses by initials - e.g. if you name was John Anderson Smith and you were the 167th person with the initials JAS, you'd be jas167@example.edu. Which is easier to find, search, and read in a contact list - John Smith or jas167?
toast0 6y ago
Hello X near the content you're looking for is a confirmation that you're logged in; without having to look at the header (which is usually more explicit). Having a friendly name there is an attempt to use less space.
tomp 6y ago
Indeed. I consider "gender" even sillier - e.g. Facebook adding 100s of different genders to their website - how about just removing the field altogether? Same about "legal sex" - why would the government care in the first place?! (Doctors might, but the rest of the government, not really.)
- ponker 6y ago
  This is for Facebook's ad targeting. They want advertisers to be able to advertise to 21-24 year old women in California.
  - jfengel 6y ago
    They can probably infer it as accurately as asking people. The inference isn't always accurate, but people don't always tell the truth, either.
    - ecnahc515 6y ago
      They can do both. Someone lying or their inference being wrong about their gender is yet another new data point.
- wang_li 6y ago
  Different sexes have different civic obligations. E.g. Selective Service, a.k.a the draft, in the US.
  - jfk13 6y ago
    Sounds like it's ripe for a discrimination lawsuit.
    - dragonwriter 6y ago
      > Sounds like it's ripe for a discrimination lawsuit. Such a lawsuit has occurred: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coalition_for_Men_v._Selective_Service_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coalition_for_Men_v._...
- InitialLastName 6y ago
  I can see wanting to know what pronouns someone uses so you can autogenerate reasonable sentences about that person (i.e. "Tomp marked himself safe from the rabid bears in Honolulu")
ponker 6y ago
When I'm looking at my contacts in Google Docs or Slack or whatever it's critical to have the names there. If it was bigchungus12@gmail.com and db23423@exxon.com it would be very annoying.