this whole x/infowars handle situation is also a reminder why i think bluesky’s username system should be adopted widely. tying the name to a domain that you actually own might not guarantee that you own your followers but the »brand« is an entity that is legally tied to you and out of reach for third parties.
i wish activitypub could copy that system. my username should be a domain that i own with a txt-entry that points to the activitypub-server that i use. let me own my identity.
and sure, dns entries are currently a bit complicated. but that is an easy fix for any registrar. just have a button »add my social profiles to this domain« and do all the correct formatting and stuff automatically.
because i’ve already gotten a couple of replies (just linking the first one): you can do something similar with web fingers. i didn’t know that and while it is interesting and a step in the right direction it’s also not as good as i think it could be. first because it’s an alias that basically just redirects you to the »correct« profile and because you need a server to store the file. so yes, great start but with room for improvement.
@hagen it can at least already be partially done from your domain e.g. for me @ sheean @ sheean.nl works using this method: https://hachyderm.io/@shanselman/109537934498261859
@sheean interesting, thank you!
@hagen something along that lines is already available.
You can create a "WebFinger" on your domain, that then "redirects" to another account on the fediverse.
Searching for the profile of nils@nils-a.me should point you to my profile. Same with nils@www.nils-andresen.de.
@maartenballiauw wrote about that in https://blog.maartenballiauw.be/post/2022/11/05/mastodon-own-donain-without-hosting-server.html
@nils_andresen thank you @sheean just told me as well and it is interesting but also not exactly what i mean. but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.
@hagen Within the standards framework currently used by ActivityPub platforms for user handles, this is possible in principle. Two main obstacles: (1) many smaller platforms are not aware of existing ways to decouple handle domains from host domains, with a few taking a deliberate stance against it; and (2) even those that support it (which includes Mastodon) are not ready for user-configurable handle domains.
My personal crusade to advocate for this is @canary:
@matthias_kraus @hagen Not sure I understand what you mean by "sharing a profile". I see on your profile that you boosted the bot's post, that all looks correct from my vantage.
@matthias_kraus @hagen Ah okay, I don't use the mobile app so that may be a function I haven't investigated. Although I don't know why anything along those lines wouldn't work.