Community accounts.
A community account collects public talks, recordings, photos, and research around an unclaimed person node. It is an editorial contribution—not an identity claim.
Two records, visibly different.
A verified profile belongs to the person who proved control through an accepted identity provider and claimed the matching node. A community account belongs to its contributing editor and must always say that the person has not claimed the node.
- Community editors can maintain their contributed Markdown and supporting research.
- They cannot edit the person’s identity, inherit their handles, or speak as them.
- Every community account requires administrator approval and can be suspended.
Community accounts share the person’s named node.
People use memorable /n/first-last paths. Matei Zaharia’s community-maintained page is /n/matei-zaharia; the community status is explicit on the page rather than encoded as a different identity.
Verified GitHub handles sit directly under the domain at /<handle>. Companies, projects, events, and talks use /c, /p, /e, and /t.
Names and handles cannot merge identities.
There is already another person using matei on GitHub. If that GitHub owner joins DevReal and verifies that identity, their handle route is /matei. It remains distinct from Matei Zaharia’s named person node at /n/matei-zaharia.
We do not merge the two people, transfer follows between them, or redirect one identity to the other merely because their handles have the same text.
When the subject claims their node.
If Matei Zaharia later claims his node under a different verified handle, that verified profile becomes canonical. The community account stops acting as a separate identity page, but its editorial work is preserved as attributed community material.
- The verified owner controls their identity, bio, handles, and profile.
- Community research keeps its original author and moderation history.
- Links identify the verified profile as the successor without implying that the person wrote the earlier community copy.
- Follows attach to person identity, never to a similarly spelled stranger.
What administrators review.
Administrators verify that the target is an active person node, the account is clearly labeled, the requested community handle is not being used to impersonate someone, and the supporting content is suitable for a public archive. Approval never substitutes for the person’s own verification.