9 votes

Inactive/reserved usernames

Posed this in the weekly thread and it was recommended to pose the question to the broader community.

I am a new user of this wonderful community and certainly plan on being active. It was a bit disappointing to see my preferred name registered and fully inactive (minus an introductory post 60 days ago).

Curious how the community thinks this should be handled, both in Alpha, an on into GA.

21 comments

  1. [2]
    MimicSquid
    Link
    First come, first served, no takebacks for anything other than a proven sitting head of state. Anything else becomes a massive administrative overhead and possibility for complications/trolling.

    First come, first served, no takebacks for anything other than a proven sitting head of state. Anything else becomes a massive administrative overhead and possibility for complications/trolling.

    33 votes
    1. StellarTabi
      Link Parent
      Wouldn't intentionally registering usernames for known celebrities and redditors already be complicated and trolling? The admins shouldn't always refuse to take action and/or refuse to make...

      Wouldn't intentionally registering usernames for known celebrities and redditors already be complicated and trolling? The admins shouldn't always refuse to take action and/or refuse to make corrections possible. Require a minimum degree of uniqueness (e.g. not just a first name), if it ever becomes a more-than-once a month thing, maybe form a team of verification volunteers.

      1 vote
  2. [4]
    Deimos
    Link
    Overall, I probably won't ever reclaim usernames. There's too much potential for confusion or privacy issues, even if an account seems to be inactive. For example, imagine someone has a message...

    Overall, I probably won't ever reclaim usernames. There's too much potential for confusion or privacy issues, even if an account seems to be inactive.

    For example, imagine someone has a message conversation with another user, and then they both go inactive for a year. One of the usernames gets re-claimed, and the other user comes back and ends up messaging a completely different person behind the account without realizing.

    In really obvious/egregious cases of squatting I may do something though, like if I saw an example of someone using a bunch of their invite codes just to register and squat on other usernames for no reasonable purpose.

    25 votes
    1. [3]
      Custos
      Link Parent
      Fair response, thank you. And whoever hijacked 'Josh,' I will remain spiteful :-D.

      Fair response, thank you.

      And whoever hijacked 'Josh,' I will remain spiteful :-D.

      2 votes
      1. samhh
        Link Parent
        Ha, likewise me with "Sam". The bastard!

        Ha, likewise me with "Sam". The bastard!

        1 vote
      2. Algernon_Asimov
        Link Parent
        Why not be "JoshX", where "X" is your second initial?

        Why not be "JoshX", where "X" is your second initial?

        1 vote
  3. [10]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. Kijafa
      Link Parent
      An admin would know.

      An admin would know.

      1 vote
    2. [4]
      Custos
      Link Parent
      I’m sure there’s a programtic way to do this?

      I’m sure there’s a programtic way to do this?

      1. [4]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. [3]
          Askme_about_penguins
          Link Parent
          Strange that you immediately jumped to the seizure of the account in question. Is there really no other alternative to the person taking the inactive user's account? I don't think that's the right...

          Strange that you immediately jumped to the seizure of the account in question.

          Is there really no other alternative to the person taking the inactive user's account? I don't think that's the right way (and I cannot see how anyone would justify invading someone's privacy like that).

          I know we cannot have two users with the same username. But why is that? And can't it be changed?

          1. Algernon_Asimov
            Link Parent
            This website is being built with the intention that users will acquire reputation and, as a result of that reputation, will gain moderator powers. That requires tracking each user's activity and...

            I know we cannot have two users with the same username. But why is that?

            This website is being built with the intention that users will acquire reputation and, as a result of that reputation, will gain moderator powers. That requires tracking each user's activity and recording which users have what powers. Therefore, there must be a unique identifier for each user. In this case, it's a personalised username, such as "Askme_about_penguins" or "Algernon_Asimov".

            Of course, it's possible to use non-personalised unique identifiers, such as "#U000001" and "#U000002", for this purpose instead. And, then each user could add an alias to personalise their account. For example, you might be user #U000001, and you might create an alias "Askme_about_penguins" which displays on threads, but all internal database storage is done using "#U000001".

            However, this leads into some other important reasons for having unique usernames: accountability and consistency. What if #U000002 changes their alias to "Askme_about_penguins" as well? There are then two accounts running around the site appearing as "Askme_about_penguins". Even though the activity of both accounts is being tracked separately in the database (as #U000001 and #U000002), your fellow users won't know who's who. What if #U000002 starts acting badly under the alias "Askme_about_penguins"? Your fellow users will assume that all posts by any user called "Askme_about_penguins" are by the same person. You'll be tarred with the same brush as that other account: their bad behaviour will reflect on you. The only way to distance yourself from #U000002's behaviour would be to change your alias to something else like "TheREAL_Askme_about_penguins". But then they change their alias to "TheREAL_Askme_about_penguins" and you're back where you started.

            5 votes
          2. Whom
            Link Parent
            I'm already confused enough between @crius and @cirrus, and any unique tag added (like how battlenet or discord handles it) would never be something I'd remember. You could do that with a...

            I'm already confused enough between @crius and @cirrus, and any unique tag added (like how battlenet or discord handles it) would never be something I'd remember. You could do that with a "nickname" feature on top, but that's a lot of added confusion for very little gain.

            Honestly I'm not sure this is worth doing anything about. Not getting the username you like sucks, but it's not worth making the site less usable to solve.

            4 votes
    3. [4]
      Custos
      Link Parent
      To your edit, much like Github, it’s probably a function of renaming - not deletion. Agree, there are potential headaches.

      To your edit, much like Github, it’s probably a function of renaming - not deletion.

      Agree, there are potential headaches.

      1. [4]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. [2]
          Algernon_Asimov
          Link Parent
          @Custos talked about renaming an account, rather than deleting it. Let's imagine that you're inactive on Tildes for 6 months and then a brand new user signs up and wants to create an account...

          @Custos talked about renaming an account, rather than deleting it.

          Let's imagine that you're inactive on Tildes for 6 months and then a brand new user signs up and wants to create an account called "@apoctr". Instead of handing your account over to the new users, Deimos could hypothetically rename your inactive account to "@inactive96", which would free up "@apoctr" for the new user to create.

          A few months later, you come back to Tildes, sign in, and find out your account has been renamed to "@inactive96". All the history is still there, but it's just under a different name. You could apply to Deimos to re-rename your account to something else now that you're active again. Of course, you can't use "@apoctr" any more, because that's been used by someone else for the past few months. But maybe you like "@sunshine" now, so you become "@sunshine".

          2 votes
          1. [2]
            Comment deleted by author
            Link Parent
            1. Kirby703
              Link Parent
              Extra issue: Tildes only stores the hash of an email, because the only thing they use it for is password resets. For them to send you an email, you have to request one (and know the email of the...

              Extra issue: Tildes only stores the hash of an email, because the only thing they use it for is password resets. For them to send you an email, you have to request one (and know the email of the account).

              4 votes
        2. Pipas
          Link Parent
          Not OP, but it depends if the identifier of the account is the username itself. If not and every account is identified by an ID you can just transfer the username to another account and this new...

          Not OP, but it depends if the identifier of the account is the username itself. If not and every account is identified by an ID you can just transfer the username to another account and this new name appears on their old posts while the person that previously held the name appears as 'Deactivated account' until they choose, or not, to claim a new username.

  4. [3]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. Custos
      Link Parent
      I love Github’s approach, selfishly :-D.

      I love Github’s approach, selfishly :-D.

      5 votes
    2. EstenGrove
      Link Parent
      Ultimately, this seems like the most likely scenario. At least while the user base is relatively low. In the future I imagine so sort of automated script would run the check as the load would be...

      Ultimately, this seems like the most likely scenario. At least while the user base is relatively low. In the future I imagine so sort of automated script would run the check as the load would be far too great for manual intervention.

      2 votes
  5. [4]
    Rocket_Man
    Link
    If we were to do anything I'd probably just suggest something like what Xbox Live does. For those unfamiliar, they just delete accounts that have been completely inactive for 4-5 years. Making...

    If we were to do anything I'd probably just suggest something like what Xbox Live does. For those unfamiliar, they just delete accounts that have been completely inactive for 4-5 years. Making those names available again.

    1 vote
    1. [3]
      Askme_about_penguins
      Link Parent
      How would we distinguish between the first person that went inactive and the second person who reclaimed the username?

      Making those names available again.

      How would we distinguish between the first person that went inactive and the second person who reclaimed the username?

      4 votes
      1. Algernon_Asimov
        Link Parent
        After 4 or 5 years, most people probably wouldn't even be aware of an account's previous life.

        After 4 or 5 years, most people probably wouldn't even be aware of an account's previous life.

        2 votes
      2. unknown user
        Link Parent
        If the user is no longer active, do we need to even show a username? It could display "deleted", or maybe "deleted (formerly [username])", provided the account has been assigned to another human.

        If the user is no longer active, do we need to even show a username? It could display "deleted", or maybe "deleted (formerly [username])", provided the account has been assigned to another human.