please get rid of the user1234567 system

[LurcioAgain]

It's just troll heaven.

I know it's common to a lot of sites (eg. the Guardian's Comment is free aka censorship is free) - but here, where it's only recently come into being it simply confuses things and is massively open to abuse

For instance, there's a very sane, interesting poster who has registered in good faith, let's call them user 1234567. Then there's a user with shall we say rather outre views - it's taken a while to get used to the fact that user 9876543 isn't user1234567 (and I've seen people caught out confusing the two).

And now there's a complete troll thread in relationships, started by user1235467 - i.e. almost the same number I'd got used to as being a real poster who makes sensible contributions, but not quite.

Please get rid of this glitch in the system - make people choose user names rather than issuing default numbers.

I was given a username and password! It took me ages to see how you change it... I agree, it was very annoying.

It's irritating

Indeed. And when you have to log on to the full site to name change, people using the app on their phones are unlikely to get round to doing it.

I'd just assumed they were all shit-stirring goady types who couldn't be arsed to come up with a nickname (and so didn't bother reading their posts). I hadn't realised it was some MN-assigned set-up and am now feeling vaguely guilty.

I really think admin should have seen this coming. I mean how many threads have there been about user names with numbers being immediately suspicious. This is fueling the paranoia.

I was just about to report a thread where user19870654 claimed they had 6 children, when I had just read a thread by user19870674 talking about their fertility issues (examples made up) - but I realised just in time they were entirely different posters!

Yes please change this, MN - it is enormously confusing and damaging to good faith. Why not just get members to choose a username, as us old lags did when we joined?

Yes rubbish I thought they were all one mega troll too.

I started a thread about this too. There was unanimous agreement.

It's a really crap system. Please get rid!

It's a faff to address/ tag someone in conversation, too. You have to go back and C&P their name or else call them 'username' .

Yes, I'm finding it very irritating.

I was assuming that they were all trolls, but was just keeping quiet.

Could a random word combinations from the dictionary assigned instead of user43876245687?

At least one could address and remember them. Tech could feed the Oxford dictionary in and posters will be called MultiplicationShell or ReadilyUlcer until they fully register, easier distinguishable than user43876245687 and user43876271137.

I've reported your post Lurcio to bring the issue to MNHQ's attention because they don't seem to respond on these threads. Hope you don't mind.

Oh is that what's going on? Explains a lot.

Yes please, a thousand times. I just think they're all trolls and that's really not fair

It's fucking shite.

Ta Milkandtwosugars, I should have thought of that. Glad it's not just me who finds this really annoying!

Thing is loads and loads of user names are unavailable so if you don't want to lose potential members you do need a quick way to get them up and running.

So the 'user65444 ' etc are defaults given to new registrations?

From the phone app meglet, at least that's what I gather is going on.

It's people who have just registered from the app.

I agree. It's a daft system and it ought to be changed.

I like that idea pax. ReadilyUlcer sounds a bit like a Terry Pratchett name