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Celebrities will never adopt the Fediverse until usernames are centralized. (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 week ago by Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world to c/fediverse@lemmy.world

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Because let's say you're Tom Hanks. And you get TomHanks@Lemmy.World

Well, what's stopping someone else from adopting TomHanks@Lemm.ee?

And some platforms minimize the text size of platform, or hide it entirely. So you just might see TomHanks, and think it's him. But it's actually a 7 year old Chinese boy with a broken leg in Arizona.

Because anyone can grab the same name, on a different platform.

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[-] RandomVideos@programming.dev 3 points 1 day ago

Discord and email worked for a long time with needing something extra after the name. Why would the fediverse be different?

[-] vamp07@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

I see this as a benefit. Generally speaking celebrity posts are the most useless threads on most platforms.

[-] Sendpicsofsandwiches@sh.itjust.works 17 points 6 days ago

Yes, but you see. Lemmy users generally don't give a flat fuck about what celebrities want.

[-] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 22 points 6 days ago

Tom@tomhanks.com

A celebrity can host their own domain to prove authenticity.

So what. On Xitter I can make an account called Tom.Hanks and get the blue mark by paying Elon. Because Tom Hanks has the username Tom_Hanks.

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[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

What's stopping that same 7 year old taking TomHanks@Lemmy.World before the real Tom Hanks even knows about Lemmy?

It's not the lack of unique usernames that's a problem. It's the lack of identity verification. Which, I mean, understandably is lacking because it's not like there are high profile people making accounts here. Well, except of course for Margot Robbie.

[-] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world -1 points 4 days ago

If "TomHanks" is his username on every other service, like twitter, and youtube, and tiktok, and instagram, then he would want to use it when he comes to the fediverse. Now, if only ONE person can have the username TomHanks (and it just so happens to be @Lemmy.World), then he could send a cease and disist letter, and if that doesn't work, a lawsuit. Madonna did it in the 90s with Madonna.com.

However, if TomHanks@Lemmy.World can exist, and TomHanks@Lemm.ee can exist, and TomHanks@piefed.social can exist and.....and.....and.....then it gets a little impossible for him to really own that username, because it can be duplicated on an infinate amount of instances, some that may not even exist when he shows up to the fediverse.

But if only one instance can have TomHanks, than he could absolutely show courts he's had a vested interest and usership of that identity and thus that's HIS username. Even on services he's never signed up for. Like if he doesn't have an instagram account at all, but someone else starts using TomHanks on instagram, he can take it to the courts that they are not allowed to do that, because that's his username.

But the way the fediverse is currently set up right now, that's not feasible. Because he could enter a court battle with TomHanks@Lemm.ee, and then 5 more instances with his username popup. And eventually it becomes harder and harder to prove that people know his ownership of that username if there's 500 other people also using the same username. It's the reason you can't email celebrities. They can't control their presence in email, so they don't use that as their identity.

[-] TseseJuer@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

so what if someone that is named Tom Hanks, there can be more than 1 person with a name, that isn't the pedophile celeb tom Hanks? are they not allowed to have their real name? this is stupid and no one gives a shit what celebs say think or do. except maybe you?

[-] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 0 points 4 days ago

The account with her pic floating around here is real?

Respect

[-] halm@leminal.space 22 points 6 days ago

That's a feature, not a bug. Celebrity culture needs to get in the sea.

[-] autonomoususer@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago

Never heard of email

[-] rglullis@communick.news 13 points 6 days ago

If you are that famous or worried about trademark, you shouldn't be using someone else's server. Tom Hanks can just buy e.g tomhanks.actor domain and set up the @me@tomhanks.actor AP actor.

I keep repeating this: the weird part is that we still have all these companies and institutions being okay with depending on someone else's namespace. Having the NYT still announcing their Twitter or Instagram for social media presence is the same as using aol.com for their email.

[-] Blaze@feddit.org 6 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

We had a AMA with Will Ropp, an actor a few months ago: https://lemm.ee/post/31335226

!movies@lemm.ee

We verified it was him by having him send us a message from his IG.

[-] LiveLM@lemmy.zip 3 points 6 days ago

How fun, this should go on a 'Best of the Fediverse' type post or something.

[-] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 5 points 6 days ago

I have a dream that one day I be part of a platform where one will not be judged by the glamor of their username but by the quality of their discourse.

[-] SorteKanin@feddit.dk 4 points 6 days ago

Because anyone can grab the same name, on a different platform.

That's always the case, even for centralized platforms. Usernames are just usernames. Same thing with email. This is a fundamental problem with the internet and the solution is that celebrities and such host their own ActivityPub server (just like their own email server) or make it clear on their personal website what their own official account is somewhere else.

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