

The username is a relic. Here is how to fix it - malditojavi
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2014/02/honan-billions/

======
artificialidiot
This guy can't tell the difference between a username and a displayed name.
He's not qualified to give advice. Username is indeed just a string for
machines which happens to be displayed occasionally.

------
wgeorgecook
So, Facebook has it figured out because it uses displayed names? If only I
didn't have to log in using my email, which suffers the same problems of
usernames.

------
blueskin_
Usernames are still better than the Orwellian Google "All your personal
information are belong to us" real name policies.

------
MrZongle2
"The solution—and the key to Facebook’s success—is surprisingly simple:
Identity online should take a cue from the physical world. You are more than
your name; your face, your birthday, your location, and the company you keep
all help others figure out who you are."

So, I guess the "solution" is an end to anonymity? The cure seems worse than
the disease, in my opinion.

I was amused to see this at the bottom: "Commenting has been disabled for this
article".

Either Wired decided they didn't want to deal with opposing viewpoints, or
they couldn't get this wonderful proposed solution in place in time.

~~~
sobes
> The cure seems worse than the disease, in my opinion.

Totally agree with you on that.

Given that the idea of usernames (originally called handles) predates the
internet
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_band_radio](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_band_radio)),
I seriously doubt the practice is going away anytime soon.

