A bit of Mastodon fun: I can now be simultaneously found via the alias "@ [email protected]".
That username is entirely interchangeable with my real @ [email protected] username. You can mention it and I will receive the mention, and you can search for it to find my account.
Here's a mention using the alias: @alex.
And here's one using the real username: @alex.
In practice, these appear identical! The Webfinger protocol is cool. (You don't need to self host to do this.)
If you own your own domain and want to be accessible on Mastodon via @[email protected], but you don't want to bother with self hosting, it's pretty easy to set up.
On your Mastodon instance, navigate to `/.well-known/webfinger?resource=acct:[email protected]`. Copy the JSON response.
On your website, add a JSON response at `/.well-known/webfinger` and send the JSON from Mastodon.
That's it! Search for your alias username on Mastodon and your real account should show up.
Alex Guyot
Alejandro Ramos