Far from perfect, but I think it’s good to have a layer that very visibly shows ‘yes, this is the account you want’.
Domains are a worthwhile addition, but they run into almost the same problem as usernames and handles. Can be made misleading easily - sure, I could often go to the web address and verify it (if they don’t put up a convincing fake site), but that’s much lower visibilty.
Eg, you can probably register nintendo@nintendoamerico and get it by some folks just as easily as registering the Twitter handle. There’s a payment step to get the domain, but that’s about it.
The centralization problem you mention is a good point though. It was a fine system, if you felt like you could trust Twitter as a verifier. Today obviously, one could not. But Bsky seems to at least theoretically have a ‘choose your verification provider’ idea in mind, which would (again theoretically) resolve a lot of that issue.
pupbiru@aussie.zone 4 days ago
domain names do that for people with well known domain names, and verification processes do that for people without
nickwitha_k@lemmy.sdf.org 3 days ago
Yup. Need something like EV certs to really verify… And that would only make sense if it’s a “no screennames” kind of thing.
pupbiru@aussie.zone 3 days ago
i think the .id.au domain licensing rules are a pretty reasonable middle-ground:
www.auda.org.au/…/id-au-domain-names/
you have to provide ID to register any .au, so you’re verified as a person, and though they don’t pre-check your nickname, AFAIK if there’s a complaint you do have to prove that you’re “known by” that name