Once a few friends share a box, “who is this username” becomes a real question. I kept the people layer small on purpose.
Profiles get a display name, bio, links, and avatar, with field-level privacy so not everything is automatically visible to every signed-in friend. There’s a searchable People directory so discovery isn’t “ask me in chat.”
DMs are inbox threads — message buttons on profiles, unread badges, and an opt-out. No popups, no toast fireworks, no engagement theater.
Standing is optional activity signal (uploads, media, comments, downloads — privacy-respecting). You can hide it. It also feeds an opt-in Media “Recommended” sort when someone wants the library ranked by more than recency.
Also: a “need more drop space” request that emails me. I’m not building a network. I’m making a house with labeled doors and a quiet hallway for messages — on Hub at /hub/people and /hub/messages, not the staff CMS (Hub is not Admin).