(moved) boots‮🌸🌿‭Apr 4, 2017

okay look
#mastodev, there needs to be a brainstorm on something:
a lot of users are concerned about cross-instance users using their username and impersonating them

what would be a good and userfriendly way to fix this?
gnu social doesn't even have a fix for this yet, it seems, so...

Show threadHedgeMage

@b Could someone please make an effort to explain to me the source of the concern? I have a couple of theories, but I want to start with the whole of the problem in my head.

Start with: how is this different from caring whether someone has a similar email address to yours, but at a different domain?

Apr 4, 2017 at 6:39pmWeb
Show thread(moved) boots‮🌸🌿‭Apr 4, 2017
@HedgeMage because it's more public and there isn't exactly a great way of saying "this is me"
imagine if say like email worked like this:
bob wants to find alice, so bob emails alice@ every email domain until he finds alice. what happens when, say, jane registers alice@ and says they're alice?
Show threadHedgeMageApr 4, 2017
@b Is there anything else I should put on the list? That's not even the one that occurred to me, so I want to make sure I'm not missing something.
Show thread(moved) boots‮🌸🌿‭Apr 4, 2017
@HedgeMage it's not easy to tell what instance someone is on from the timeline or even from any post
imagine supercalifraglistic joins here
their handle name gets cut off with "..."
imagine a different supercalifraglistic joins another
domain
how do you tell at a glance which one is whic?
Show threadHedgeMageApr 4, 2017
@b I've made some notes, will revisit when I have time to examine the protocol and do some thinking about UI limitations.
Show threadmalokiApr 4, 2017
@b @HedgeMage Can't this just be solved with hi I'm [@maloki]
Show threadHedgeMageApr 4, 2017

@maloki There's some concern over the ability to mix up similarly-named accounts in limited (e.g. mobile) interfaces, and/or what happens when non-technical users go about trying to find other non-technical users (who may not have enough of a well-developed web presence to quickly turn up the right account, especially if a malicious impostor exists).

I'm thinking on it.

Show threadTim Pastoor ✅Apr 4, 2017

@HedgeMage @maloki Working on it. Prepare for content overflow.

https://maly.io/web/statuses/38333

Show threadHedgeMageApr 4, 2017
@tim @maloki Ready and waiting.
Show threadHedgeMageApr 5, 2017
@tim never saw something from you after this...should I have?
Show threadTim Pastoor ✅Apr 5, 2017
@HedgeMage I need a few more weeks. Just. Prepare. :P
Show threadccApr 6, 2017
@HedgeMage @b Doesn't matter if it is technologically similar, Mastodon is perceived as being one universe (or federation) and if you're just viewing the Fed Timeline, you are not necessarily paying attention to which instance that user is a member of. Therefore, some could create an account with the same name and same avatar as you on another instance, but it isn't actually you and you could be blamed for things you didn't actually post. Email is a terrible analogy.