[IxDA Discuss] email address as username

[Josh Viney]

I prefer email addresses over usernames as login ID's because they are
unique, easier to remember, and given a valid email address, give the
organization a way to stay in frequent contact with the user. Although it is
true that more than one user can have access to an account, access to an
email account is considered to be under the user's domain of influence.

Assuming that a user is likely to have 1 or 2 frequently used email
addresses, consider the scenario where a user has joined multiple sites with
each site requiring a unique username/login ID with it's own min/max
character requirements. In this case which would be a bigger barrier to
entry when the user is signing up or if the user has not visited the site in
weeks/months?

Unique usernames as login ID's don't scale well once "all of the good names
are taken". If a user is signing up and sees that his name is taken, can you
be certain that the user will continue entering variations of their username
until they find one that is unique?

Regarding security issues: This may sound a little callous, but what is
really at risk if the account is hacked/hijacked? I worked for a company
with a group of sites with membership estimated around 10million registered
users, and security of account information using email addresses as login
ID's was not a problem (Meaning it NEVER came up in the call center or
email). The bigger problems were getting users to join in the first place
and keeping them active on the sites.

Josh Viney
EastMedia Group