Optional real names displayed

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Allow users to optionally declare their real names and if declared, display 
those real names alongside their user names.

Rationale:
* having real names displayed gives the community more "Real World" legitimacy.
* some people aren't ready to give real names when they sign up, but then 
change their minds.
* there is currently no way to *start* displaying your real name without 
abandoning Karma, and this stops people from doing it (A few examples of this 
came up today at a CFAR meeting, myself included.)
* this is particularly unfortunate since having Karma is one of the reasons to 
want to share one's real name.
* In general, it'd be nice to give people a part of their name that they could 
update or change at will, which may as well be the "Real Name" part of their 
account data...

Original issue reported on code.google.com by Matthew.Fallshaw on 29 May 2013 at 7:40

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Maybe use a "display name" instead that replaces username where it's included 
in the text (it doesn't have to be an actual "real name")? Displaying both a 
username and a real name will be bulky, and there is little point in keeping 
the username other than in URLs (for technical reasons).

Original comment by robot...@gmail.com on 15 Jun 2013 at 5:06

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Maybe.  Someone like me who wants to display their real name along with
their old username can write "Andrew Critch (Academian)" as their display
name.  But maybe some people would stop displaying their old username
altogether and back-references would get a bit weird...

I'd be happy with either outcome.

Original comment by cri...@appliedrationality.org on 16 Jun 2013 at 11:51

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I think this feature sound great. Proposed implementation:

IF [optional real name is provided] THEN display username as "[Real Name] 
([username])"

URLs and so on could stay the same so as not to break links to user profiles.

Any complaints before I authorize this?

Original comment by lukep...@gmail.com on 9 Jul 2013 at 10:40

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Your implementation sounds great!  Thumbs up!

Original comment by cri...@appliedrationality.org on 10 Jul 2013 at 8:01

[GoogleCodeExporter]

And we want the real name to a. require verification of some sort, going 
through a real human and b. be accompanied by some alternate visual style to 
distinguish between, say verified real name "Lucas Sloan" and username 
"lucassloan"?

Original comment by predicta...@gmail.com on 16 Jul 2013 at 1:21

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Maybe this should be a two-stage thing. The first stage (this issue ticket) can 
just implement the method for *unverified* real names. The second stage (a 
later issue ticket) could implement a "Real Name Verification" feature, details 
TBD.

The major reasons to do verification are to prevent abuse and to give 
high-status people (verified) instant community status without them needing to 
build up LW karma. So I should probably poll some high-status people I wish 
were engaging more and learn from them what kind of implementation for them 
would be most likely to engage them.

So for this first stage, I think we can skip verification and just let people 
provide optional real names in a textbox, and let those real names be displayed 
with a slightly different formatting. A crisper font, or something? Black 
instead of grey?

But I'd definitely be curious to hear others' thoughts on this.

Original comment by lukep...@gmail.com on 16 Jul 2013 at 2:06

[GoogleCodeExporter]

If you only want to allow high-status people to be verified then a model like 
Twitter's where they invite you and somehow verify you might work. App.net took 
an alternate approach, where anyone can verify their account by proving they 
own a particular domain: http://support.app.net/customer/portal/articles/1121817

Original comment by wjmo...@gmail.com on 16 Jul 2013 at 3:00

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I'd question whether this project should be a priority.  A dashboard for 
tracking old posts seems like it should be more important for getting science 
done on LW; people can always register under their real names as a username and 
be confirmed by Luke in a comment, if we're going to require humans in the loop 
anyway.

Original comment by yudkow...@gmail.com on 16 Jul 2013 at 3:20

[GoogleCodeExporter]

So long as the field remains optional, I think this is a great idea that might 
bring some trust among other community members.

I don't know if "verification" is necessary for this – just make it an 
optional field if people want it, and find some way to indicate that it's a 
person's real name v. their user name.

Original comment by nick...@gmail.com on 20 Feb 2014 at 7:32

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Original comment by predicta...@gmail.com on 15 Apr 2014 at 10:31

• Added labels: Estimate-2

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Original comment by Matthew.Fallshaw on 30 Apr 2014 at 4:10

• Changed state: Started