diff --git a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/mentions.js b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/mentions.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fb4a049f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/mentions.js
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+const MENTION_REGEX = /\s@(\S+)/g
+
+export function extractSlugs(content) {
+  let slugs = []
+  let match
+  while ((match = MENTION_REGEX.exec(content)) != null) {
+    slugs.push(match[1])
+  }
+  return slugs
+}
diff --git a/backend/src/middleware/notifications/mentions.spec.js b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/mentions.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8fe9221b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/middleware/notifications/mentions.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import { extractSlugs } from './mentions'
+
+describe('extract', () => {
+  describe('finds mentions in the form of', () => {
+    it('@user', () => {
+      const content = 'Hello @user'
+      expect(extractSlugs(content)).toEqual(['user'])
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('ignores email addresses', () => {
+      const content = 'Hello somebody@example.org'
+      expect(extractSlugs(content)).toEqual([])
+  })
+})
diff --git a/backend/src/middleware/notificationsMiddleware.js b/backend/src/middleware/notificationsMiddleware.js
index 1150ab0d9..30205278b 100644
--- a/backend/src/middleware/notificationsMiddleware.js
+++ b/backend/src/middleware/notificationsMiddleware.js
@@ -1,16 +1,12 @@
-const MENTION_REGEX = /@(\S+)/g
+import { extractSlugs } from './notifications/mentions'
 
 const notify = async (resolve, root, args, context, resolveInfo) => {
   const post = await resolve(root, args, context, resolveInfo)
 
   const session = context.driver.session()
   const { content, id: postId } = post
-  const slugs = []
+  const slugs = extractSlugs(content)
   const createdAt = (new Date()).toISOString()
-  let match
-  while ((match = MENTION_REGEX.exec(content)) != null) {
-    slugs.push(match[1])
-  }
   const cypher = `
     match(u:User) where u.slug in $slugs
     match(p:Post) where p.id = $postId