*fondly remembering my 43 different user names over the years*
there's a certain charm to the user chosen username. an air of mystique, like seeing a stranger in the store that you swear you recognise, but you can't put a name to their face.
the move to email is a step towards more centralized control. it's a lot easier forvthe powers-that-be to keep track of your email, rather than one of tye hundred usernames you can choose. bundle that with reputation based email systems, soon you will have to use a gmail or outlook or hotmail or whatever corporate mail just to exist online.
the counter to this are federated systems. servers that you control, who follow your rules. integrated into others by open protocols. the only hurdle is to make people switch. i myself, like many here, haven't made the journey over. but i believe that sites like mastodon are the future. a sort-off return to the decentralized internet, where individual blogs and forums rules instead of a few tech giants.
they will try to stop us, of course. every day the screws tighten. "you can't go on that site, it's not secure!", the browser screams at the uninitiated. we know better, but every time they convince one of us to stay, here in the warm cozy embrace of the corporation. they know that their place in the world is vulnerable, lest they wouldn't need to lobby for stronger ID-laws. we are at a moment in time where we can choose. either to break our shackles and run out into the woods, or stay in our warm cage, like lambs for slaughter.
i remember my usernames. and i will make sure the powers-that-be forget every single one.
