An Open Letter on Why We’re Removing Usernames | Hacker News Reader

An Open Letter on Why We’re Removing Usernames

theblog.okcupid.com

45 pointscardamomo11 comments

Does not, in fact, reveal why they're removing usernames. "It's time to keep up with the times" isn't a reason. You are admonished that your real name is very good; shame on you, your parents spent effort on it! Which isn't a reason either. Don't hide behind "another" (i.e. the last and only) layer of mystique! Not a reason either.

They are all peripheral arguments and appeals to emotion, which might help sell it to you but none of them explain it. That means the real reason is something that will fuck you over in some way.

It seems apparent that they're doing it because Tinder is more popular, same as their half-assed "swipe" functionality they keep trying to shoehorn into the UX.

This is insane. I used okc years ago and met my partner on it but also had some rather unpleasant experiences with people who I would very much rather not know my (very uncommon and easy to google) name.

A lot of people on okc are also in non-conventional relationships that they would I imagine like to be able to choose to show or not show to the rest of the world. Hide usernames fine, but forcibly make everyone use real names? That’s idiotic.

I you had actually read through the article, you'd know that they're not going to make people use their full real names.

Doesn’t matter. I have an unusual name. If you google my first name and my city, you will find my full name (and my workplace, etc). If you google my full name, you will find my entire family’s names and addresses. Someone who views my profile on okcupid would literally be able to show up at my work or home and I would be none the wiser. This is a terrible move, and I’m going to be forced to delete my account.

This is OkCupid saying they will ditch usernames for real names, essentially because they did not like some usernames people came up with. What could possibly go wrong?

This sounds line a really bad idea, given that OkCupid knows way more deeply private stuff about their users than even Facebook. Their matching algorithm is based on users answering questions, which can be anything from "do you like the taste of beer?" to questions about pretty much any sexual preference out there. Will be interesting to see if users will want this associated with their real name...

I hope they legitimately delete our data as we all delete our accounts this month.

Maryland judiciary case search lets you look up a persons real name to see their traffic cases to get their address. Awesome...Ok cupid. WTF is it with this real name BS. Let's be honest. It's so they can sell your fucking data. WE know that. How many lay people know that? Or that they're owned by eharmony.. Brb deleting my unused old account.

On a social media site where people want at least some privacy, this is a bad idea. On a dating site where people would rather not tell others they're looking for relationships? This is just a suicidally bad idea.

How many people interested in same sex relationships are going to be outed by this? How many with 'unusual' kinks and preferences are now potentially opened up to stalkers, ridicule or real life pressures? Heck, how many people in general are going to get crap simply for being on a site like this at all?

Using real names on a dating site is utterly stupid, and shows the people at OK Cupid have no idea what they're doing with their own site.

Big, big mistake! What’s to deter stalking?

I'm in favor of ditching usernames. Using real names, though?

If I were to short-list bad idea to kill the site, that'd be pretty close to the top.

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