I want to know why have two users, Thomas and Thomas Ward? is there a different people but username almost same?
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@muru No, do not flag, this is nto duplicate.– new Q Open WidCommented Jan 9, 2018 at 5:02
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4You gave a duplicate answer there, excepting the parts of this answer that actually answered the question, so you should already know that this is a duplicate question.– Chai T. RexCommented Jan 9, 2018 at 5:10
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I say this is not duplicate. Do not flag. If you reflag this, i wil give an attention.– new Q Open WidCommented Jan 9, 2018 at 5:11
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9Just saying this is not a duplicate and then being rude to people does not make this not a duplicate, how about giving a reason why this is not a duplicate.– Mark KirbyCommented Jan 9, 2018 at 10:01
1 Answer
Usernames are not unique. Anyone can name themselves anything they want, as well as rename themselves whenever they want. As a demonstration, go to Users and search for John
. You'll have hundreds of hits.
The system instead uses user IDs as the authoritative reference. For example, you are user 772394
, and I am user 208574
. Thomas Ward (the mod) has the user ID 10616
. The user ID is a part of the URL of a user account:
In theory, it becomes possible then for a user to have the same name as a moderator. To prevent cases of mistaken identity, moderators are distinguished by the ♦ by their name as well as the aura of power emanating from their user cards.
The moderator Thomas Ward will have their diamond, and will look something like this on the site:
Otherwise, usernames are almost a free-for-all. Diamonds, as well as some other characters, may not be used in usernames (for obvious reasons).