Twitter Style User Addressing

[zorkian]

Title:
Twitter Style User Addressing

Area:
html formatting

Summary:
It would be convenient and fairly typical of the modern Internet to be able to refer to accounts using a nice shorthand. I propose using the Twitter style: @mark would be the equivalent of <user name="mark">.

Description:
Writing HTML isn't something that comes naturally to many people. Twitter's style of addressing has been used for many years in email (they certainly didn't make it up) and is now gaining broad acceptance as a modern way of referring to other user accounts.

Given that, I think that it would be awesome to type @denise and have it show up as if I had typed <user name="denise">.

Furthermore, I think that it would be great to be able to easily refer to other people on other domains. For example, I think @news.lj would be easier to type than <user name="news" site="livejournal.com">. Even if we had to type @news.livejournal.com that's a lot easier to type than remembering the HTML and exactly what to put in it.

Poll #2493 Twitter Style User Addressing

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 163

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
66 (40.5%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
22 (13.5%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
57 (35.0%)

(I have no opinion)
14 (8.6%)

(Other: please comment)
4 (2.5%)

Comments

[stormy]

I'm always up for making the HTML easier for users on the site. Especially things that can be typed quickly with no knowledge of HTML. I have to remind friends often how to link to things. If it's possible to make a working shorthand that doesn't interfere with anything else, and without having hassle with an opt off/on, then I think the ability to shorthand usernames would be pretty nice for newer users.

Typing @mark is much faster than typing mark, even for me. Even <@mark> would be nice, as stated in previous comments, but you do run the risk of people never learning the actual mark up that way, too. It's in profiles, and in the FAQ, but I doubt I'd ever trouble myself to link in any other way if I could do it easier!

In addition, I do remember @ referring to both people and places ages ago, but I do like @usernames for referring to people now. And to me the @, being all curly - reminds me of DW's swirl. Mentally, I just make that connection.

I've used Twitter before, but I don't think of '@' as reminding me of Twitter. Dreamwidth has the ability to travel avenues that haven't been touched and come up with ideas that make the site easier. If you start adding a lot of periods and # into short hand usernames, they're not short anymore. Either it has to be super simple, or the same as it is, because the mark up is very easy on its own.