Add a username generator to the Sign Up page

[zadam]

Hi, reddit has a cool feature where it allows you to generate a relatively human sounding username when registering.

I think adding this feature might facilitate adoption of Lemmy. I wanted to sign up today, it asks me a username and I froze - I don't know which one I want, on some level I don't care, but I also don't want something really stupid.

On reddit this works by joining some words from a dictionary - usually adjective + subject + maybe some number for uniqueness. You can click "next" to get a better sounding one.

Workaround: https://jimpix.co.uk/words/username-generator.asp or similar sites

[krestenlaust]

It could be fun to have a kinda unique pattern which allows experienced lemmings to recognize a username outside of the platform

[ctsrc]

It could be fun to have a kinda unique pattern which allows experienced lemmings to recognize a username outside of the platform

let username = format!("TheNarwhalBaconsAtMidnight{}", some_random_u64);

[krestenlaust]

A thing that's worth considering is the bot problem we currently have. Right now, bots are easier to distinguish since there isn't an official random pattern in naming. If we made one, the bots could just use that pattern.

A little silly, but it would make sense to delay this till the bot problem gets improved

[fatflyingpigs]

I'm entirely opposed to this. My tin foil conspiracy is that Reddit has that feature to mask their bot content/accounts; I would rather not see that on Lemmy.

Entirely my own hypothesis, but a higher quality content is made by people that care enough to make a username. Gibberish or barcode usernames (eg: w03r47w098 or |IlII||ll|) probably have users that aren't attached to their account, and therefore give less of a fuck about their impact in a community.

I froze - I don't know which one I want, on some level I don't care, but I also don't want something really stupid. Face roll the keyboard, it's going to be less stupid than Deliberate-Ad-9472 or w/e Reddit generates.

Personally I have RES regex block all (most) content made by those users with the auto Gen'd names.

[zadam]

@fatflyingpigs I'm really skeptical about the idea that arbitrary gatekeeping rules increase quality.

probably have users that aren't attached to their account,

I'm not attached to my account. One reason is that I change them pretty often to protect my privacy.

[fatflyingpigs]

I'm really skeptical about the idea that arbitrary gatekeeping rules increase quality.

No one is being gatekept. It's a metric of minimal effort. If we can demand that people make a reason to sign up, then this is even less. As humans, we (currently) have and amazing ability to detect ~~bullshit~~ generated content. Thus far there is no science that proves that there is an AI that readily generates both usernames AND content that we can't distinguish/moderate.

You're allowed your privacy, but anonymity comes at the cost of reliability. In the same way some people bounce in and out of your life while others stay reliable: The online bouncers (you) don't get the credit of a reliable post history that can inspected over time. And the long time posters with history don't get anonymity.

Privacy is great, but it's ultimately it is the enemy of trust. If you have a better solution, please let us all know; I would love if we could have both.