[tommy_axle]

Ok so taylorswift is reserved but taylor_swift and realtaylorswift can be used? It seems like impersonation would still be a problem.

[choraria]

I thought about this and decided against complicating ways in which this can be restricted. Honestly, this is a super simple challenge to solve. Perhaps I should introduce this as an API parameter to detect variations. That way, not just taylor_swift but t_aylorswift, ta_ylorswift etc. could also be detected and flagged.

As for realtaylorswift, I thought about that too. I don't think — and this is my personal opinion, obviously — most platforms wouldn't want to restrict this because then it really becomes unmanageable. I could obviously be wrong though and these could very easily be introduced to the API also (i.e. detect obvious username patterns) and totally open to adding that as an API parameter too.

[chaps]

Friend, with respect, these "simple challenge"s really start to add up very quickly, especially after edge cases.

Highly recommend you read this and similar posts: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-...

[chaps]

Hah no kidding. I tried just, "bill_gates" --

  {
    "username": "bill_gates",
    "isReserved": false,
    "isDeleted": false,
    "categories": []
  }

what's the point of this thing...?

[bpt3]

Why would I want billgates to be reserved in the first place, unless I'm Microsoft?

And the definition of a "public figure" is absurdly broad and inconsistent. Some very common names are flagged as reserved for what are extremely minor celebrities at best (like an assistant coach of a college basketball team, or a actor with barely any formal credits as examples, and some other obscure athletes are marked as reserved while others are not).

[gs17]

It's odd that they focused so much on "it's better than regexes" when it doesn't handle these cases where a regex would do well.