@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.
Dan York
Doc Edward Morbius ❌