Searching for users by email address?

February 22, 2008 6:33 AM

I tried to gift a membership to a minor internet celebrity, but I got the message "It appears your friend already has an account, as this email address is in use". Really? That's cool -- now who is it? Can there be a way of entering in an address and getting a username back, so I can add that account to my contacts?
posted by ewagoner to feature requests at 6:33 AM (74 comments total)

Taken at face value, it's a neat idea, but it's also a non-starter: being able to ID people arbitrarily by plugging in email addresses would be bad, bad, bad. Uberbad. Megabad.

It's the sort of thing that in specific contexts you could email a mod about to inquire, but that's probably just about it.
posted by cortex at 6:37 AM on February 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

You could always enter the email address into your email client and, you know, ask said minor celebrity.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:39 AM on February 22, 2008 [9 favorites]

Many people have email addresses in the system that aren't public. It wouldn't make any sense for those to be searchable. Otherwise, I'm not sure what happened to the user search we used to have. I know we have an admin-facing one, maybe we should see if we can get a user-facing one of some sort as well.
posted by jessamyn at 6:40 AM on February 22, 2008

Thanks -- I should have just emailed you all.

I know if such a feature existed, there would have to be safeguards. Email addresses would have to be already available to members, for starters. One could just scrape all the member pages for public addresses already, so this wouldn't be giving out info that isn't already there but would simply make it easier to come by.
posted by ewagoner at 6:53 AM on February 22, 2008

Is this the thread where I enter my e-mail address to win a minor internet celebrity?
posted by Eideteker at 6:54 AM on February 22, 2008 [3 favorites]

Was it Ron Paul?
posted by ND¢ at 6:59 AM on February 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

It was me, right?



No?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:01 AM on February 22, 2008

Are you Ron Paul flapjax? If so I have a bone to pick with you. You have two first names dude. It just pisses me off. What next? Bob Frank? Larry Tom? Charles John? You suck.
posted by ND¢ at 7:05 AM on February 22, 2008 [5 favorites]

Barney Frank wanted me to tell you to go piss up a rope, ND¢.
posted by phearlez at 7:13 AM on February 22, 2008 [6 favorites]

Who is John Galt?
posted by Dave Faris at 7:17 AM on February 22, 2008

You have two first names dude.

And you have two letters and a monetary indicator. That's what, better?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:21 AM on February 22, 2008

stalkfilter.
posted by konolia at 7:27 AM on February 22, 2008

Is that you, John Wayne?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:37 AM on February 22, 2008 [2 favorites]

quonsar's already left, dude.
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:47 AM on February 22, 2008

Smart Dalek, psst.
posted by cgc373 at 7:50 AM on February 22, 2008

And if you meant Jenny Diski, there's a lot of people here who should apologize, but they're incorrigible.
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:50 AM on February 22, 2008

^ Oh ye?
posted by bonaldi at 7:51 AM on February 22, 2008

ach, that for Smart Dalek
posted by bonaldi at 7:51 AM on February 22, 2008

"Are you Ron Paul flapjax? If so I have a bone to pick with you. You have two first names dude. It just pisses me off. What next? Bob Frank? Larry Tom? Charles John?"

Neil Clark Warren.
posted by Eideteker at 8:01 AM on February 22, 2008

Jennifer Jason Leigh.
posted by cgc373 at 8:06 AM on February 22, 2008

I'm thinking that "Minor Internet Celebrity" might make a pretty great business card.
posted by quin at 8:20 AM on February 22, 2008 [4 favorites]

Can there be a way of entering in an address and getting a username back

Seems kind of like borderline stalking. But then again, what else is the Internet for?
posted by KokuRyu at 8:20 AM on February 22, 2008

Yeah, but it could also be Cory Doctorow's second child's middle sequence of names, quin, so BE CAREFUL WITH THOSE SUGGESTIONS. (Sorry, thread crossover happening with the all caps.)
posted by cgc373 at 8:21 AM on February 22, 2008

quonsar's already left, dude.
posted by Smart Dalek at 10:47 AM on February 22 [+] [!]


a sweetie brought him back
posted by caddis at 8:21 AM on February 22, 2008

I've always found it interesting that you can do this on Facebook to find people's real names from their email address.
posted by smackfu at 8:25 AM on February 22, 2008

I'm thinking that "Minor Internet Celebrity" might make a pretty great business card.

Mine has "Viscount of The Internets" on it!
posted by Greg Nog at 8:38 AM on February 22, 2008

Empress of the Internet has a nice ring.
posted by Cranberry at 8:45 AM on February 22, 2008

Empress of the Internet has a nice ring.

It kind of sounds like it would be the title of a Guided By Voices song.
posted by dersins at 8:50 AM on February 22, 2008

Is that you, John Wayne?

Who posted that? Who the fuck posted that? Who's the slimy little communist shit twinkle-toed cocksucker down here, who just signed his own banhammer? Nobody, huh?! The fairy fucking godmother posted it! Out-fucking-standing! I will MeTa you all until you fucking die! I'll MeTa you until your assholes are sucking buttermilk.
posted by mattbucher at 9:09 AM on February 22, 2008 [5 favorites]

Is that you, John Wayne?
posted by ersatz at 9:42 AM on February 22, 2008

Who posted that? Who the fuck posted that? Who's the slimy little communist shit twinkle-toed cocksucker down here, who just signed his own banhammer? Nobody, huh?! The fairy fucking godmother posted it! Out-fucking-standing! I will MeTa you all until you fucking die! I'll MeTa you until your assholes are sucking buttermilk.

Someone turned off John Wayne's freezer again....
posted by inigo2 at 9:43 AM on February 22, 2008

Is that you, John Wayne Gacy?
posted by dubold at 9:44 AM on February 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

posted by ND¢ Are you Ron Paul flapjax? If so I have a bone to pick with you. You have two first names dude. It just pisses me off. What next? Bob Frank? Larry Tom? Charles John? You suck.

Larry Craig!
posted by fandango_matt at 9:59 AM on February 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

Peter O'Toole has a double-phallic name. 'sall I got.
posted by carsonb at 10:02 AM on February 22, 2008

Is it me?
posted by shmegegge at 10:08 AM on February 22, 2008

You have two first names dude. It just pisses me off.

Whatever you do, don't read this.
posted by brain_drain at 10:12 AM on February 22, 2008

Is it Baby Lamont? Cause I got some bad news...
posted by studentbaker at 10:20 AM on February 22, 2008

Motherfuck him and John Wayne.
posted by klangklangston at 10:39 AM on February 22, 2008

Peter O'Toole has a double-phallic name.

And every once in a while he has to run a little water through it.
posted by Nick Verstayne at 10:45 AM on February 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

Stalkerfilter.
posted by Lynsey at 11:16 AM on February 22, 2008

"I'm kind of a minor deal."
posted by puckupdate at 11:19 AM on February 22, 2008

A minor? Internet celebrity?

I bet it's cortex. He loves them sappy chords.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:35 AM on February 22, 2008

not Ron Paul? how about Ron Jeremy?
posted by the painkiller at 12:02 PM on February 22, 2008

Speaking as somebody who purposely uses a different name on here than I do everywhere else, this is a terrible idea. I chose this name so it's not easy to realize I'm using embarrassing sexual experiences with you to answer AskMe questions in explicit detail.
posted by Iamtherealme at 12:02 PM on February 22, 2008

"I'm kind of a minor deal."
posted by puckupdate at 2:19 PM

I won a T-Shirt from spoog that says, "I'm Kind of a Big Deal" and the reference was completely lost on me until I saw that episode of Project Runway.
posted by misha at 12:06 PM on February 22, 2008

oh wow, misha. I don't know how to say this, but... it's actually a reference from Anchorman. Who ever said that on Project Runway was in all likelihood quoting the movie.

Also, sometimes I think the spoog site is solely around to pimp anchorman merchandise. I [heart] lamp, the buddha one... the list goes on and on.
posted by shmegegge at 12:28 PM on February 22, 2008

Spoog? You mean Snorg? I see they're advertising on nytimes.com now.
posted by mattbucher at 12:31 PM on February 22, 2008

Minor Internet Celebrity. Has ColdChef already linked this? Even if, seems fitting.
posted by Toekneesan at 12:32 PM on February 22, 2008

If it's me, just send the $5.
posted by Horselover Fat at 1:12 PM on February 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

I don't know who any of you are anymore.
posted by not_on_display at 1:30 PM on February 22, 2008

"I don't know who any of you are anymore."

Try romancing us some.
posted by klangklangston at 2:11 PM on February 22, 2008

Romancing?! I work ten hour days (and still can't get Ethan to cut me any slack), I get home and there are the damn kids to contend with, the house is a mess, we have had to deal with all that stuff with your parents, so when am I supposed to be romancing you? Tell me! Oh and lets not forget that every time I even look in your direction after we have finally gotten the kids to bed its "not tonight." So please spare me the romancing complaints. Just spare me.

I need a drink.
posted by ND¢ at 2:21 PM on February 22, 2008

And you have two letters and a monetary indicator. That's what, better?

Only if the monetary indicator is gold backed.
posted by atrazine at 2:30 PM on February 22, 2008

I told you to quit that job, and hell, maybe the place wouldn't be such a mess if you didn't just drop everything on the floor like an ape!

And get me a damn drink too!
posted by klangklangston at 2:50 PM on February 22, 2008

I have three first names. But it's classy.
posted by Corduroy at 2:50 PM on February 22, 2008

Your name is Classy Classy Classy?
posted by cortex at 3:13 PM on February 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

hah! funny cortex.
classy, classy, classy. That's the root of my problem, I also have two first names now. I blame certain 1980s coke-snortin, bling-flinging non-internet celebrities and their penchant for naming themselves after expensive cars, remote islands, or, er, museums for this.
posted by stagewhisper at 4:29 PM on February 22, 2008

I don't know how to say this, but... it's actually a reference from Anchorman.

Jeez, I saw Anchorman, and still had no idea. I suck.

Spoog? You mean Snorg? I see they're advertising on nytimes.com now.

Hahahahahah. Yes, I meant Snorg. Wow. Don't know where that came from*.

*I actually won the shirt through a contest on another site, and didn't get to pick the saying on the shirt, in case you are wondering just how big an idiot I am.
posted by misha at 4:36 PM on February 22, 2008

I've got a name and two nouns. For MeFi, I dropped the nouns.
posted by jessamyn at 4:44 PM on February 22, 2008

"I also have two first names now. I blame certain 1980s coke-snortin, bling-flinging non-internet celebrities "

OMG BO DEREK HAS AN ACCOUNT HERE
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:09 PM on February 22, 2008

My last name is a first name. My fame is assured.
posted by davejay at 11:28 PM on February 22, 2008

*disclaimer: my name is not actually Dave Jay. Not that there would be anything wrong with that.
posted by davejay at 11:29 PM on February 22, 2008

My entire legal name consists of only two syllables.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:35 AM on February 23, 2008

Three names that could be first or lastnames. Pain in the ass.
posted by Hobgoblin at 5:51 AM on February 23, 2008

That's four names, hobgoblin.
posted by not_on_display at 11:32 PM on February 23, 2008

goodnewsfortheinsane is really Rick James!?
posted by cgc373 at 11:36 PM on February 23, 2008

What we really need is someone with two surnames but no first name to balance this out. Is Harrison Ford on MetaFilter?
posted by flashboy at 7:04 AM on February 24, 2008

cgc373: "goodnewsfortheinsane is really Rick James!?"

I wish. I'm Ron Paul.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:57 AM on February 24, 2008

Heh. Your uid completely explains your constituency then.
posted by Dave Faris at 9:43 AM on February 24, 2008 [2 favorites]

My full name is all surnames, FWIW, although my first name -- my grandmother's maiden name -- is a first-name-as-surname, so it sort of cancels itself out.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:57 PM on February 24, 2008

My real name is made up of an irrational number, a fuzzily-defined concept for which there is no single English word, and an image file.
posted by Rock Steady at 3:18 PM on February 24, 2008

Well excuse me Mr. Square-root-of-ten Vergangenheitsbewältigung Goatse, I didn't know it was such a sensitive subject for you.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 6:37 PM on February 24, 2008 [5 favorites]

Oh dear lord, I've missed MetaTalk.
posted by UKnowForKids at 1:25 PM on February 26, 2008

And you think YOUR last name is embarrassing.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:30 AM on February 27, 2008