@dredmorbius The challenge will be *finding* people across instances - and knowing which address is the "right" one. It is the issue with email. How do you know which email address to use for me? "Dan York" is a pretty generic name and there are a lot of us. Which one is me?
I do think one of the drives toward centralization was this "directory dilemma". I do it myself - I don't know which email to use for someone, so I send them a direct message via FB or Twitter.
@danyork It all gets back to identity:
"Who are you?" is the most expensive question in information technology. No matter how you get it wrong, you're screwed.
There's also the question of disclosure -- how much information should you have to give away to somebody for them to be able to find you?
I'm doing a lot of literature research currently: authors, names, dates (where known), institutions, locations, topics. That forms an identity locus in which someone exists.
@danyork I'm also starting to wonder if we're not confounding "what is your identity" with "how can I direct a message /to/ you" and "how can I determine a message is /from/ you". These are ... subtly different.
Reputation is another huge factor. Payments-oriented questions, and rights-oriented questions, would be additional dimensions.
We're in a world of usernames and passwords in large part because those are the models computers find easier. They may not fit the world.
@danyork Crazy thing: I've been dealing with this stuff for 3-4 decades, and I'm only starting to think about it in these terms.
I don't know if I'm slow or if the problem is harder than most people realise.
Dan York
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Stefanie Schulte