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Some percentage of the nasty things people say on web forums are said half-jokingly and offend because half-jokingness is hard to convey in text, but I think th
by pg 18y ago
Some percentage of the nasty things people say on web forums are said half-jokingly and offend because half-jokingness is hard to convey in text, but I think the majority are genuinely nasty.
- nailer 18y agoHave you considered asking new users to enter their first and second names, and creating an available username from that? This is often credited for Facebook having more 'real' content than MySpace and Friendster.
- tsetse-fly 18y agoEnforcing specific types of usernames is rather lame. People would just enter fake names. Facebook depends on your real identity so people who have met you can locate you.
- nailer 18y agoSome people may enter fake names, but asking for their first and last names at least sets expectations. As you've touched on, allowing people to find you on hacker news would also be a benefit.
- pg 18y agoUsernames consisting of people's first and last names feels corporate. It would be a bummer not to have any mechanical_fishes.
- davidw 18y agoOne thing that might help just a bit is to more prominently encourage people to add some contact information in their profiles. It is, unfortunately, fairly rare.
- nailer 18y agoWhat about FirstnameLastinitial? E.g., I'd be Mikem, rather than nailer.
- showerst 18y agoMy guess is you're not the only MikeM, which leads to yahoo-esque usernames (I'd likely be TimS223 or something), and by that point you may as well allow real nicknames.
- robotrout 18y agoThanks mate!
- Xichekolas 18y agoI didn't realize until this moment that there was a mechanical_fish and a robotrout... am I missing out on a joke or something? Next I'll see a reply from cyberguppy.