I love that we can have screen names as well as the unique account username, but I'm wondering: if I look at a comment thread containing two people using the same display name (in the worst case, where one is trying to impersonate the other) is there a clear indicator to see that Person A is not Person B?

In discord this used to be done with the four digit number after the display name, but that doesn't seem to be a thing here, and so far as I can tell it's not displaying my account name on my comments and posts.

I worry that, as Lemmy grows, perhaps an issue with impersonators could develop if distinguishing between different users with the same display name requires checking their account pages, since most people won't check. But maybe I'm missing something?

To be clear, I'm not remotely arguing for getting rid of the display names. I love the display names, keep the display names. Especially when I'm just imagining a hypothetical future problem that may not even turn out to be much of a problem.

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[–] Whimseymimple 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Based on what I see via browser, if you mouse over the name, you will see the username (versus the display name). I'm not sure how you'd tell in mobile.

[–] Whimseymimple 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Via Jerboa

screenshot

[–] Whimseymimple 3 points 1 year ago

Via web app on mobile

screenshot

[–] GuyDudeman@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

In mlem on iOS I just see the username, not the display name.

[–] Lowbird 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Maybe somebody try to temporarily give yourself the display name "Pigeon" and comment here so we can see what that looks like? I invite you to impersonate me :P

[–] mifuyne 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You asked for it 🙃 but I'm curious too! So far, I just hover over the usernames and check the link, but a more visible mark would be good! Something like what Calckey does, where on the right side, you can see a symbol and the name of the instance they came from.

[–] Lowbird 4 points 1 year ago

Haha, thank you! xD

Good to know I can hover my mouse over the usernames, that does help a little. But yeah, something like you say would be good. And/or maybe something like having every person using the same username within a thread show up as a different color, or with a little number tag automatically appended after the name.

[–] GuyDudeman@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Interestingly, I’m using mlem on iOS and I still see your username as “Lowbird”

[–] JuniperusVox 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Test. Now I didn't remove my avatar, but I can try that next.

[–] Barbarian@lemmy.reckless.dev 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I still see you as Juniper

[–] JuniperusVox 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Odd, it shows up as Pigeon for me. I wonder if there's a delay.

[–] Barbarian@lemmy.reckless.dev 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Maybe? Could take a bit for user changes to federate out

[–] Lowbird 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It shows up as Pigeon for me! On desktop. The only difference I see is the "creator" tag on my name. Oh dear 0.o

[–] Barbarian@lemmy.reckless.dev 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

1-man instances proven more superior to see through impersonation :P

[–] Lowbird 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Thank you for testing! You look identical to me except the creator tag 0.o

Edit: I can't see your avatar right now for some reason, on desktop.

[–] bird 1 points 1 year ago

I’ve had a same issue. I’ve seen another user with the same display name and it was really confusing at first. I thought it was a glitch. But the actual username is different.