Darnell (Seize The Day)

With more social and blogging platforms joining the Fediverse in the future, there will undoubtedly be some confusion over how to display user handles online. Many people will probably forget to add the extra “@” symbol and instead type out an email address on their blog or social network.

This could lead to people clicking on the link & emailing someone, all the while thinking they are partaking in the new Fediverse based upon ActivityPub when in reality they are engaging in another federated network based upon SMTP (or Simple Mail Transfer Protocol).

Instead of letting readers or followers receive a bounce back or NDR (Non-Delivery Report), it would be wise to create a forwarding email address that is similar to your Fediverse handle.

What Is A Forwarding Email Address‽ Why Not Use A Regular Email Address‽

A forwarding email address is an email handle that forwards messages to another email address. You usually cannot email from it, but it can capture messages intended for you without setting up another email account.

Sometimes referred to as alias email accounts, many email providers, domain registrars, and hosting providers allow customers to create forwarding email addresses for free, which means no extra cost to the individual.

However, if you prefer to use a fully functional email address, you might be able to “add on” an extra account for a small fee (say about $1), depending on your email hosting provider.

Note: If you lack the technical skills to set up a forwarding email address, seek the help of a geek friend or contact your domain registrar, hosting provider, or email hosting company for assistance.

Credit: Sharon “Athena” from Battlestar Galactica show (Season 4, Episode 6)

Federated Twining: Who Is This For‽ Is This A Cylon Trick‽ 😜

Creating a federated twin email account that mimics your Fediverse handle is recommended for those who solo host on their domain or run a blog on a custom domain.

For example, on my Misskey instance, my user handle is @darnell@darnell.moe, so I created darnell@darnell.moe, a forwarding email address to complement my site.

I have done something similar for my blogs as well. If someone wants to contact @darnell@darnell.tv, they can email darnell@darnell.tv, which will be forwarded to my primary email address.

Note: On my blog DarnellClayton.com, I opted to create an inexpensive secondary email address that mimics my handle there (darnell@darnellclayton.com) instead of a simple forwarding email address.

What If I Am On Community Instance‽

If you are on a community instance, this option is probably not available to you without assistance from the site admin.

However, instance admins could consider adding a forwarding email as an extra perk for their instance for users (for a small fee, as there is a limit to how many alias email accounts you can freely create) or for active moderators on their instance.

For more significant instances like Threads & Flipboard, this will probably never be an option (as they have over 100 million users), but if you are on a small instance (say under 100), this is quite feasible.

One More Thing

Another benefit of using a secondary email address instead of a forwarding one is that it provides a secure, easy-to-remember way for people to communicate with you.

Although email encryption is imperfect, it may provide a better alternative to sending private messages through the Fediverse (which is not recommended for sensitive information).

Note: @evan@cosocial.ca (one of the founders of ActivityPub) is working on creating end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for the ActivityPub protocol, which he announced on the Fediverse via his Threads account, @evanprodromou@threads.net (you should follow both accounts).

👨🏾‍💻 by @darnell@darnellclayton.com 🔛 @darnell@darnell.day 📧 darnell@darnell.day

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🦹🏾‍♂️ WordPress Workarounds: 💻 Darnell (TeleVerse) 🌍 Darnell (Africa) 👨🏾‍🎨 Darnell (Creative Outlet)

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