Make usernames truly feel like unique

Rather than hardcoding a specific username format, instance owners could define their own regex for username validation. This would allow each instance to decide which characters and formats are appropriate for its community, while keeping usernames distinct from display names.

Rather than hardcoding a specific username format, instance owners could define their own regex for username validation. This would allow each instance to decide which characters and formats are appropriate for its community, while keeping usernames distinct from display names. For example, an instance could choose to allow only lowercase letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), etc... (., _), while another instance could use a different format if desired.

Many platforms distinguish usernames from display names by placing stricter restrictions on the characters that can be used in usernames. For example, instead of having a username like Revenant alongside a display name like Revenant, an instance could require usernames to follow a stricter format, such as @rev. This makes the distinction between a username and a display name more apparent.