I'd favor the middle ground. Have an official form you can fill out and request a name change. This prevents people from doing it frivously or evading reputation filters, but there are plenty of...
I'd favor the middle ground. Have an official form you can fill out and request a name change. This prevents people from doing it frivously or evading reputation filters, but there are plenty of legitimate cases for someone to want to change their name. I sure wouldn't want to be stuck with some of the names I picked when I was 12... *shudders*
I assume that people who, at age 12, pick a nick like 'LongDong73' have a reasonable chance of being embarrassed by that choice at double the age. If you're not in that category then I'm not...
I assume that people who, at age 12, pick a nick like 'LongDong73' have a reasonable chance of being embarrassed by that choice at double the age.
If you're not in that category then I'm not talking about you.
I'm leery of name changes even with brakes like that to make it inconvenient. What benefit is there to the user of a name change other than keeping the karma they accumulated under their own name?...
I'm leery of name changes even with brakes like that to make it inconvenient.
What benefit is there to the user of a name change other than keeping the karma they accumulated under their own name?
Them keeping the karma under a new name only harms the community, as community members will associate them with being a respectable user they just didn't know about, instead of a known quantity.
Other benefits such as easily copying over which subs you were subscribed to could be maintained without the name change.. "Copy settings" option or some such.
But why would you reset their trust? They're still the exact same user, and presumably if they were able to get to a high trust to start with, they're still a strong and trusted user. Furthermore,...
But why would you reset their trust? They're still the exact same user, and presumably if they were able to get to a high trust to start with, they're still a strong and trusted user. Furthermore, if you let them change their name instead of an entirely new account, it also preserves posting history, so you could easily browse through and recognize them as their old username. With a whole new account, with a new registration date, no trust, and no history, there's literally zero indication they were ever anybody else. Changing your name irl doesn't put you into the witness protection program after all :P
Changing your name IRL and going into witness protection DOES reset your trust in RL, though. It's the same trick companies do when rebranding.. "I hated 'old company name' but 'new company name'...
Changing your name IRL and going into witness protection DOES reset your trust in RL, though.
It's the same trick companies do when rebranding.. "I hated 'old company name' but 'new company name' is great!" - we changed nothing.
One of the biggest reasons you'd want to reset is to avoid persecution for bad behavior.. the other reason is choosing a terrible name. I'd say a nice middle is reset names but lose your system chosen trust, since you're also getting a clean slate on your human memory trust.
I do agree it isn't that big a deal, provided we can tell for sure.
How about instead just putting a little tag under someone's username that says "formerly /u/whatever" or something like that for a few weeks? Now you preserve human trust and system trust, and...
How about instead just putting a little tag under someone's username that says "formerly /u/whatever" or something like that for a few weeks? Now you preserve human trust and system trust, and it's a lot less destructive then nuking someone's contributions and established status.
Why would it matter? This site is set up to be anonymous. Let them change it the name. It would be no different then creating a new user in the sense of anonymity. It's just a name, what really...
Why would it matter? This site is set up to be anonymous. Let them change it the name. It would be no different then creating a new user in the sense of anonymity. It's just a name, what really matters is the post history that's what makes a user who they are.
Two options I see to make everone kinda happy. Would be allow for an alias or at least make it apparently that this user changed the name.
Plans moving forward allow those with a more in depth site history essentially more power over the site, including an auto-mod system. I agree it's not that big a deal, so long as we can check the...
Plans moving forward allow those with a more in depth site history essentially more power over the site, including an auto-mod system.
I agree it's not that big a deal, so long as we can check the history to see the posts.. and those posts have some reference to the new name.. and ideally the old name shows forever in the post history, as well.
After all, the main reason to name change is to avoid well deserved persecution in my humble experience
Absolutely agree with you. Also definitely not a high priority feature. If someone would like to implement it, maybe something like being available only before 2 weeks from creation of the user...
Absolutely agree with you. Also definitely not a high priority feature.
If someone would like to implement it, maybe something like being available only before 2 weeks from creation of the user and a certain amount of comments/topics could fix people trying to rebuild their persona sure to bad behaviour while keeping their Trust.
I mean, a respected user would have no reason to change username after a long time because it will lose recognisability.
It's something that only " bad" users would want to use in the long run.
Instead of filling out a form and having to explain why they want to change their name, how about letting users do it on their own, but only allowing them to change their name once a year (or even...
Instead of filling out a form and having to explain why they want to change their name, how about letting users do it on their own, but only allowing them to change their name once a year (or even more).
In a forum I used, you had a username and an alias. The username was unchangeable and unique, while the alias could be changed and did not have to be unique. If you were using an alias that was...
In a forum I used, you had a username and an alias. The username was unchangeable and unique, while the alias could be changed and did not have to be unique. If you were using an alias that was different from your username, it would appear as italic and if you hovered over the alias, the username would show up. This is a possible compromise.
I'd rather have reputations attached to consistent account identities. If you really want, you can just create another account, at the cost of needing to rebuild your trust on the site.
I'd rather have reputations attached to consistent account identities. If you really want, you can just create another account, at the cost of needing to rebuild your trust on the site.
There is that, but there is also the idea that user histories are not stored perpetually. So it makes sense that after some initial time where you might see both names listed on a user's page, but...
There is that, but there is also the idea that user histories are not stored perpetually. So it makes sense that after some initial time where you might see both names listed on a user's page, but afterwards just the new one, with trust intact.
I've been feeling regret about my name, too, but for the opposite reason. I've been a version of Petril on the internet for a long time, and for some dumb reason, I decided to spell it backwards...
I've been feeling regret about my name, too, but for the opposite reason. I've been a version of Petril on the internet for a long time, and for some dumb reason, I decided to spell it backwards on ~. I didn't think I'd care, but it makes me a little sad. Petril has become my online identity, even though I was a nobody on Reddit.
It takes me about 10 seconds to change someone's name, it's really not a big deal. I was going to just go ahead and change yours for you, but I didn't want to accidentally lock you out of the site...
It takes me about 10 seconds to change someone's name, it's really not a big deal. I was going to just go ahead and change yours for you, but I didn't want to accidentally lock you out of the site if you weren't logged in and didn't know that I changed it. So just confirm to me that you've seen this (and still want the name change) and I'll do it.
I think name changes are unnecessary in the long run, since users should just make new accounts instead. But until the site becomes public, I guess just messaging @Deimos will be necessary.
I think name changes are unnecessary in the long run, since users should just make new accounts instead. But until the site becomes public, I guess just messaging @Deimos will be necessary.
Theoretically you could, but the idea for the future is to build a trust system partially based on votes/karma. Once that’s implemented, creating a new account could be a real sacrifice, as you...
Theoretically you could, but the idea for the future is to build a trust system partially based on votes/karma. Once that’s implemented, creating a new account could be a real sacrifice, as you would need to rebuild your trust.
You could just invite yourself, but at this stage of the site, having abandoned accounts inadvertently squatting on usernames isn't ideal or nice to other people who join.
You could just invite yourself, but at this stage of the site, having abandoned accounts inadvertently squatting on usernames isn't ideal or nice to other people who join.
On gamefaqs, if you reach a certain threshold, like being a 10-year account (reaching a certain karma ammont) or something you get the ability to request a 1 time name change.
On gamefaqs, if you reach a certain threshold, like being a 10-year account (reaching a certain karma ammont) or something you get the ability to request a 1 time name change.
I'd favor the middle ground. Have an official form you can fill out and request a name change. This prevents people from doing it frivously or evading reputation filters, but there are plenty of legitimate cases for someone to want to change their name. I sure wouldn't want to be stuck with some of the names I picked when I was 12... *shudders*
Alternate point, I love seeing deep political discussion being undertaken by people with names like LongDong73
Your momentary amusement should probably not be given more weight than their long-term embarrassment.
debatable
Objection!
You assumes that I am embarrassed
I assume that people who, at age 12, pick a nick like 'LongDong73' have a reasonable chance of being embarrassed by that choice at double the age.
If you're not in that category then I'm not talking about you.
I'm leery of name changes even with brakes like that to make it inconvenient.
What benefit is there to the user of a name change other than keeping the karma they accumulated under their own name?
Them keeping the karma under a new name only harms the community, as community members will associate them with being a respectable user they just didn't know about, instead of a known quantity.
Other benefits such as easily copying over which subs you were subscribed to could be maintained without the name change.. "Copy settings" option or some such.
But why would you reset their trust? They're still the exact same user, and presumably if they were able to get to a high trust to start with, they're still a strong and trusted user. Furthermore, if you let them change their name instead of an entirely new account, it also preserves posting history, so you could easily browse through and recognize them as their old username. With a whole new account, with a new registration date, no trust, and no history, there's literally zero indication they were ever anybody else. Changing your name irl doesn't put you into the witness protection program after all :P
Changing your name IRL and going into witness protection DOES reset your trust in RL, though.
It's the same trick companies do when rebranding.. "I hated 'old company name' but 'new company name' is great!" - we changed nothing.
One of the biggest reasons you'd want to reset is to avoid persecution for bad behavior.. the other reason is choosing a terrible name. I'd say a nice middle is reset names but lose your system chosen trust, since you're also getting a clean slate on your human memory trust.
I do agree it isn't that big a deal, provided we can tell for sure.
How about instead just putting a little tag under someone's username that says "formerly /u/whatever" or something like that for a few weeks? Now you preserve human trust and system trust, and it's a lot less destructive then nuking someone's contributions and established status.
I'd be happy if it were permanent, really. Otherwise if there is user history to consider, you have to do a research project to find it.
Why would it matter? This site is set up to be anonymous. Let them change it the name. It would be no different then creating a new user in the sense of anonymity. It's just a name, what really matters is the post history that's what makes a user who they are.
Two options I see to make everone kinda happy. Would be allow for an alias or at least make it apparently that this user changed the name.
Plans moving forward allow those with a more in depth site history essentially more power over the site, including an auto-mod system.
I agree it's not that big a deal, so long as we can check the history to see the posts.. and those posts have some reference to the new name.. and ideally the old name shows forever in the post history, as well.
After all, the main reason to name change is to avoid well deserved persecution in my humble experience
Absolutely agree with you. Also definitely not a high priority feature.
If someone would like to implement it, maybe something like being available only before 2 weeks from creation of the user and a certain amount of comments/topics could fix people trying to rebuild their persona sure to bad behaviour while keeping their Trust.
I mean, a respected user would have no reason to change username after a long time because it will lose recognisability.
It's something that only " bad" users would want to use in the long run.
Instead of filling out a form and having to explain why they want to change their name, how about letting users do it on their own, but only allowing them to change their name once a year (or even more).
In a forum I used, you had a username and an alias. The username was unchangeable and unique, while the alias could be changed and did not have to be unique. If you were using an alias that was different from your username, it would appear as italic and if you hovered over the alias, the username would show up. This is a possible compromise.
I'd rather have reputations attached to consistent account identities. If you really want, you can just create another account, at the cost of needing to rebuild your trust on the site.
There is that, but there is also the idea that user histories are not stored perpetually. So it makes sense that after some initial time where you might see both names listed on a user's page, but afterwards just the new one, with trust intact.
I'll never give up this golden name.
Likewise
Love it!
It is pretty great.
If you ask, @Deimos is, I think, willing to change names for people. If I remember correctly, he did it for @Whom a while back.
thanks, because I might not want to share a name with my Reddit account
Glad to be of help; I know that feeling all too well :)
On a similar note, why am i not able to see the date i joined? I can see that on everyone else's profile.
Also, the vote count system would be great
Give you a free name change every six months, and disallow that older name to be used for up to two years. Want to change it sooner? $1.
Gross
It would deter a lot of people to be changing their usernames all willy-nilly and make sure accountability stays in tact. I guess that's gross?
I've been feeling regret about my name, too, but for the opposite reason. I've been a version of Petril on the internet for a long time, and for some dumb reason, I decided to spell it backwards on ~. I didn't think I'd care, but it makes me a little sad. Petril has become my online identity, even though I was a nobody on Reddit.
PM @Deimos to see if he'll change it. He changed my name from TheVibe to just Vibe and ScarWhom to Whom.
I feel bad. I know he's really busy.
It takes me about 10 seconds to change someone's name, it's really not a big deal. I was going to just go ahead and change yours for you, but I didn't want to accidentally lock you out of the site if you weren't logged in and didn't know that I changed it. So just confirm to me that you've seen this (and still want the name change) and I'll do it.
Hey, thanks, man! Yeah, Petril would be great! I really appreciate it.
Worked perfectly! Thanks again!
No problem, I told you it was easy!
He may not be able to get to it right away, but it's worth asking at least.
I think name changes are unnecessary in the long run, since users should just make new accounts instead. But until the site becomes public, I guess just messaging @Deimos will be necessary.
Since karma seems less important here than on other sites, could you simply create a new account?
Theoretically you could, but the idea for the future is to build a trust system partially based on votes/karma. Once that’s implemented, creating a new account could be a real sacrifice, as you would need to rebuild your trust.
You could just invite yourself, but at this stage of the site, having abandoned accounts inadvertently squatting on usernames isn't ideal or nice to other people who join.
On gamefaqs, if you reach a certain threshold, like being a 10-year account (reaching a certain karma ammont) or something you get the ability to request a 1 time name change.
Yes, but you must submit to a random amount of subsequent captchas from 15-55. This is hashed based on your name so you can't gamify it.