Verification will very quickly become an issue on Fedi, I believe.
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nickwitha_k (he/him)replied to BeAware :fediverse: last edited by
I absolutely agree that misinformation (and disinformation) is a problem. However, I do not think that it is something with a good software solution at this time. The traditional/corporate social media effectively implemented a non-solution to the problem and declared it solved. Not to mention, verification of identity is an issue that governments also struggle with, relying on substantial amounts of good faith.
There ARE means of tying a software identity to a verifiable and hard to counterfeit computing object. For example, a local cryptographic key pair or a hardware security module. However, without involvement of a trusted third-party, it is not currently possible to tie this computing object to a specific human being.
My thinking is that attempting to implement an identity verification component in the Fediverse, therefore, is likely a misallocation of effort that could be better spent fixing bugs, extending features, and improving stability and interoperability. There is a lot still to do in virtually every project that I’ve peeked at, whether it’s mod tools, IaC, or just plain code cleanup. I think that at this juncture, what is required is more on the social side of things, ensuring that people are aware that one cannot believe everything that they see on the Internet or the identity claims of those that they interact with, unless they undertake further verification themselves. This is what was done in pre-social media forums and BBS systems with a good degree of effectiveness.
Don’t get me wrong, I would be ecstatic to be proven incorrect but would much prefer that identity verification be shelved until such a time as crytographers are able to solve it with their dark mathematical arts than for any Fediverse project to waste time from people’s lives trying to implement a similar non-solution.
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BrikoXreplied to fbievan (Powered by Polymaths) last edited by
@fbievan @BeAware That's a great option for technical people, but I don't think regular "celebrity" would have enough understanding what PGP is or how to use it. Even if you would have a straightforward 3-step guide, I think it would a barrier for most, if creating an account on Mastodon is too complicated for them.
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@BeAware I have no idea why Elk refuses to mention you properly. Might be a bug.
Relying on 3rd party platforms is far from ideal and like you mentioned unrealistic as it would require API access which would be easily blocked.
Realistically, I can only think of one idiot-proof verification system. Credit card, but that opens up instances to storing payment and identitity data or outsourcing it to a 3rd party service. Anything else would be user based and require at least some input from them.
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@BrikoX the mention is a wrong username issue...it's social.beaware.live for the domain not just BeAware.live
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fbievan (Powered by Polymaths)replied to BrikoX last edited by
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BeAware :fediverse:replied to fbievan (Powered by Polymaths) last edited by
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Colin Cogle :verified:replied to BeAware :fediverse: last edited by
@BeAware You saw that account, too?
In Linus’s case, he could put his Mastodon handle in the Linux kernel’s comments, or post it to the kernel mailing list. Of course, not everyone can do that.
Some people doing Reddit AMA’s have taken a photo of themselves holding a piece of paper with today’s date and the subreddit name. Perhaps that can be a low-tech verification solution.
Or, have someone post something on another social media site, “I’m on Mastodon at…” Again, not ideal, but doable.
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[email protected]replied to BeAware :fediverse: last edited by
Just don’t trust anyone. Require multi platform sourcing/proofing for those that claim to be something important.
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BeAware :fediverse:replied to Colin Cogle :verified: last edited by
@colin I did see it. I followed another account on the kernal instance that I assumed was him but idk.️
I watch introductions pretty closely and that one caught my eye immediately.
Hope nobody gets scammed.
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[email protected]replied to BeAware :fediverse: last edited by
Some have thousands of followers and a few posts, but do we know if any of them are actually him? Including the newest one on .social…?
Easy. Did you check the reference back-link on their profiles?
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BeAware :fediverse:replied to [email protected] last edited by
@lambalicious lol. You sure are talking like everyone has those. Let me check...nope.