How emoji triplets could help with trust and identity on decentralised social networks
Inspired by what3words, I want to share an idea that solves some problems I’ve been thinking about in the context of MoodleNet:
- With services that allow users to change usernames and avatars an infinite number of times, how do you know who you’re really talking to?
- On decentralised social networks such as Mastodon, users on different instances can have the same username. This is confusing when trying to @ mention someone.
If what3words can describe everywhere on the globe using three words, then we can describe all users of a social network using three emojis.
As I’ve explained before, LessPass (a deterministic password generator) uses emoji triplets to simultaneously obfuscate your password while providing a check that you’ve entered it correctly.
In addition, as my colleague Mayel pointed out when I shared the idea with him, the first emoji of the triplet could indicate which instance you’re on.
As you can see above, I’ve actually already added three emojis next to my username on both Twitter and Mastodon. I think it serves as a really nice, quick, visual indication that you’re dealing with the person you expect.
