Integration of Domain Names and Instagram User Names

[mp9999]

Hi everyone,

I have a suggestion that I think can be very useful for us domainers and Instagram as well. Instagram must allow user name selection only based on ownership of domain names so that the username and domain names are exact match. This should be applied to business accounts and this can help users better remember the specific username on Instagram and this will skyrocket the domain prices if other social networks do the same. What do you think? what are the pros and cons to end users and Instagram? Do you think we can set up a petition and then send it to Instagram?
Thanks.

 

[AniMeshorer]

Hi everyone,

I have a suggestion that I think can be very useful for us domainers and Instagram as well. Instagram must allow user name selection only based on ownership of domain names so that the username and domain names are exact match. This should be applied to business accounts and this can help users better remember the specific username on Instagram and this will skyrocket the domain prices if other social networks do the same. What do you think? what are the pros and cons to end users and Instagram? Do you think we can set up a petition and then send it to Instagram?
Thanks.

In theory this could work. However, I see a few obstacles:

1) what about Instagram users who don't own a domain? They need a username too. Forcing them to buy a domain will turn off a lot of users for which it all has to be free, and thus Meta will not like the idea as it would cost them users.

2) what about usernames on Instagram that are not registered as domains yet? If someone grabs that domain afterwards, then will the original user have to let go of his username and hand it over to the person who registered the domain?

3) what about usernames of which domains exist in multiple extentions? Random example: The Beatles' official website is thebeatles.com. If someone related to the band (thus no copyright infringement) registers thebeatles.net or thebeatles.uk as well, then which of those domain owners is entitled to the Instagram username "thebeatles"?
I realise this is a bad example, as we talk about a TM protected domain. But imagine a random person registering his name with .com, a person with the exact name registers it with .net, another person with the same name registers it with .uk ... then which of those people can register the name as Instagram username?



What can be possible is something that BlueSky is already doing: you can opt for any random username under the .bsky.social domain (your username on BlueSky is thus a subdomain of bsky.social). However, people can verify their account by linking their domain name to their BlueSky account, and then continue using BlueSky with their domain as username instead of a subdomain of bsky.social.
This is however not obligatory, and many people who do have a domain prefer to just use a subdomain of .bsky.social.

I think with Instagram, something similar could be done, but enforcing every Instagram user to buy a domain to use as username won't happen. Meta prefers to have as many users as possible, and I guess the majority of users do not own a domain name. Data is business for Meta, so why would they want to scare off a large amount of their users?

 

[mp9999]

In theory this could work. However, I see a few obstacles:

1) what about Instagram users who don't own a domain? They need a username too. Forcing them to buy a domain will turn off a lot of users for which it all has to be free, and thus Meta will not like the idea as it would cost them users.

2) what about usernames on Instagram that are not registered as domains yet? If someone grabs that domain afterwards, then will the original user have to let go of his username and hand it over to the person who registered the domain?

3) what about usernames of which domains exist in multiple extentions? Random example: The Beatles' official website is thebeatles.com. If someone related to the band (thus no copyright infringement) registers thebeatles.net or thebeatles.uk as well, then which of those domain owners is entitled to the Instagram username "thebeatles"?
I realise this is a bad example, as we talk about a TM protected domain. But imagine a random person registering his name with .com, a person with the exact name registers it with .net, another person with the same name registers it with .uk ... then which of those people can register the name as Instagram username?



What can be possible is something that BlueSky is already doing: you can opt for any random username under the .bsky.social domain (your username on BlueSky is thus a subdomain of bsky.social). However, people can verify their account by linking their domain name to their BlueSky account, and then continue using BlueSky with their domain as username instead of a subdomain of bsky.social.
This is however not obligatory, and many people who do have a domain prefer to just use a subdomain of .bsky.social.

I think with Instagram, something similar could be done, but enforcing every Instagram user to buy a domain to use as username won't happen. Meta prefers to have as many users as possible, and I guess the majority of users do not own a domain name. Data is business for Meta, so why would they want to scare off a large amount of their users?

Thanks. These are good points to think about. Personally, I think one very huge advantage of this approach would be that every user will have the same username across all networks. This is highly advantageous for influencers and big accounts as their followers can easily find them on every social platform. Sooner or later social networks realize this and domain market is in for a huge upward trend.

 

[AniMeshorer]

Thanks. These are good points to think about. Personally, I think one very huge advantage of this approach would be that every user will have the same username across all networks. This is highly advantageous for influencers and big accounts as their followers can easily find them on every social platform. Sooner or later social networks realize this and domain market is in for a huge upward trend.

The idea that everyone has the same username across all social media platforms is a great one!

However, how is it going to be realised? For that different social networks (which are all seperate companies, some of which are not on good terms with each other) will have to cooperate somehow.

There are a lot of social networks who would need to make an agreement somehow:
X (formerly Twitter)
Facebook
Instagram
Threads
LinkedIn
BlueSky

And that's just naming the most famous ones.
If you start including local (country- or region-specific) social networks with large userbases you also need to get a deal with the likes of VKontakte, that huge Chinese social network (Weibu or so?), ...

So it will be difficult to realise this practically, although it's a great idea.

PS: I guess some people will be glad they can get different usernames on different networks. For example on Facebook and LinkedIn, and also on X and BlueSky, most people use their real names. Now imagine those same people use AdultFriendFinder and/or Fetlife and would thus be forced to use their real names there too ... I think some people would feel very uncomfortable :D