Two huge reasons that activation emails are worthwhile:
- validation (to a reasonable extent) that a user is who they say they are
- enhanced security for users
The whole war on sign up forms and the like is far overblown imo. If your users are going to have even a moderate level of ongoing interaction with your site (especially if your site has social aspects to it) it is necessary to include some form of identity verification.
I, for one, would think quite poorly of a company that allowed someone else to sign up for an account using my email address.
I mean, it's one thing if your site has very little interaction with its users. If you want to have any sort of meaningful long-term relationship, though, go ahead and verify them.
- validation (to a reasonable extent) that a user is who they say they are
- enhanced security for users
The whole war on sign up forms and the like is far overblown imo. If your users are going to have even a moderate level of ongoing interaction with your site (especially if your site has social aspects to it) it is necessary to include some form of identity verification.
I, for one, would think quite poorly of a company that allowed someone else to sign up for an account using my email address.