Ask HN: Is it possible to create placeholder accounts?

3 pointssoelost4 comments

I want a feature of my app to allow me to add a friend using their phone number, even if they're not a member, then also allow me to send them a message in the app. So when that friend finally signs up with that phone number, the message will already be waiting for them, in their inbox. As if they'd be claiming a dummy account. Is there a name for this or any way of doing this?

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It sounds similar to what's called a shadow profile. Facebook does that[0], and it's usually considered a bit sketchy (and possibly illegal).

[0]: https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/11/17225482/facebook-shadow-...

Thank you for identifying "what" it is. Just did a quick search and I see how it could be sketch.

You just create an account with the phone number as the unique ID in the database and allow every other field to be nullable, except perhaps the messages field as you only want to create this ghost account if a message is to be sent.

Possibly best to have some logic that allows an account to only have nullable fields if it is created by an existing user signing someone else up.

Thanks for identifying the "how" its done portion.

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