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Verifying your identity on Mastodon is for everyone as well and based on open web standards. https://joinmastodon.org/verification https://joinmastodon.org/ver

Verifying your identity on Mastodon is for everyone as well and based on open web standards. https://joinmastodon.org/verification https://joinmastodon.org/verification

bradgessler 2y ago
Problem with Mastodon is you’re forced to associate with the identity of the sever or run your own instance, both of which are very awkward. I’m @bradgessler@ruby.social, but I’m more than a Ruby dev. I could run a Mastadon instance for bradgessler.com, but I have no desire to spend even 3 minutes figuring out how to set all that up. Maintaining my own instance sounds even worse. Bluesky gets the ergonomics of this right: the usernames feel like they occupy a global namespace and I can point the aliases at my domains in a few minutes without having to worry about a bunch of standards that I don’t really care about. For some reason I can’t explain, it also really bothers me that I have to @ people on Mastadon via @brad@bradgessler.com. I don’t want to say “@“ twice if I’m verbally telling somebody where to find me when presenting and “@me@bradgessler” is weird too. Much easier to say “Follow me @bradgessler.com” Am I lazy? Yes, but most people are. Bluesky strikes a nice balance of control and identity that I’m comfortable with for the amount of time and effort I’m willing to put into it.
- panic 2y ago
  It's possible to set up a Mastodon alias using WebFinger: https://domenicoluciani.com/2022/11/19/how-to-create-mastodon-alias.html https://domenicoluciani.com/2022/11/19/how-to-create-mastodo...
- wink 2y ago
  Maybe think about people who (deliberately or not) have neither chosen their domain(s) to read like their real name or online handle. I agree that yours kinda works, but I wouldn't want to be addressed by @<any of my domains>, that's why I use a handle (and have not chosen a matching domain since 1999 or so). And yes, I know you don't have to go that route, and I actually like that it works, I'm just saying it's not a universally good feature. It can be pretty useless.
jazzyjackson 2y ago
Neat thing about BlueSky using DNS TXT record is I don't actually have to host a landing page. The way mastodon does it feels like a quid pro quo way of making you put a mastodon icon on your website. Bluesky is really good for corporate and government users who can get an @name.whitehouse.gov account or @name.npr.org etc without polluting the npr.org markup with a thousand "rel" links for each of their employees. I think bluesky is thinking about a different audience than mastodon. Also I took a look at https://mastodonapp.uk/@stephenfry https://mastodonapp.uk/@stephenfry as an example of a verified profile and the UX is quite bad. Green check in a green box with a green border. The title tag just says "Website" and there's no indication of what it means.

Verifying your identity on Mastodon is for everyone as well and based on open web standards. https://joinmastodon.org/verification https://joinmastodon.org/verification

bradgessler 2y ago

Problem with Mastodon is you’re forced to associate with the identity of the sever or run your own instance, both of which are very awkward. I’m @bradgessler@ruby.social, but I’m more than a Ruby dev. I could run a Mastadon instance for bradgessler.com, but I have no desire to spend even 3 minutes figuring out how to set all that up. Maintaining my own instance sounds even worse. Bluesky gets the ergonomics of this right: the usernames feel like they occupy a global namespace and I can point the aliases at my domains in a few minutes without having to worry about a bunch of standards that I don’t really care about. For some reason I can’t explain, it also really bothers me that I have to @ people on Mastadon via @brad@bradgessler.com. I don’t want to say “@“ twice if I’m verbally telling somebody where to find me when presenting and “@me@bradgessler” is weird too. Much easier to say “Follow me @bradgessler.com” Am I lazy? Yes, but most people are. Bluesky strikes a nice balance of control and identity that I’m comfortable with for the amount of time and effort I’m willing to put into it.

panic 2y ago
It's possible to set up a Mastodon alias using WebFinger: https://domenicoluciani.com/2022/11/19/how-to-create-mastodon-alias.html https://domenicoluciani.com/2022/11/19/how-to-create-mastodo...
wink 2y ago
Maybe think about people who (deliberately or not) have neither chosen their domain(s) to read like their real name or online handle. I agree that yours kinda works, but I wouldn't want to be addressed by @<any of my domains>, that's why I use a handle (and have not chosen a matching domain since 1999 or so). And yes, I know you don't have to go that route, and I actually like that it works, I'm just saying it's not a universally good feature. It can be pretty useless.

jazzyjackson 2y ago

Neat thing about BlueSky using DNS TXT record is I don't actually have to host a landing page. The way mastodon does it feels like a quid pro quo way of making you put a mastodon icon on your website. Bluesky is really good for corporate and government users who can get an @name.whitehouse.gov account or @name.npr.org etc without polluting the npr.org markup with a thousand "rel" links for each of their employees. I think bluesky is thinking about a different audience than mastodon. Also I took a look at https://mastodonapp.uk/@stephenfry https://mastodonapp.uk/@stephenfry as an example of a verified profile and the UX is quite bad. Green check in a green box with a green border. The title tag just says "Website" and there's no indication of what it means.