Your Name Here

I remember the first screen name I ever had.

I was about 11 and we had an awesome dial-up Internet connection. At that time, we were still paying by the minute instead of a flat fee (because, my god, who would ever pay that much to use the Internet all the time!?) I didn’t have a Web page, I didn’t have an e-mail address, hell I couldn’t even log on without my parents permission.

But what I did have was an AIM account, and it was glorious. I remember watching the screen, waiting for that opening-door noise so I could see who logged on. I would rush home from school to chat with friends who I had just talked with minutes before. I had my perfect profile, an awesome icon, and of course, the greatest username ever: “Bangindrummer.” - The 11-year-old musician thought that was hilarious … the 24-year old today still smirks.

Throughout the years, I had many names, each trying to capture a bit of who I was at the time. Some were weirdly obscure (like “endlessprodigal” – a round-about reference to “The Sandman,” a comic series I was overly-obsessed with) and some were just weird (like “IAmNotJoeKing,” which I still have no idea how I created, since I never met anyone named Joe King nor was the pun that funny … and still, I had that screen name for years!)

I had usernames for everything: AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Live Journal, Dead Journal, TheSpark (which started as a place for Internet tests and eventually became SparkNotes and the dating site OKCupid…), chat rooms, message boards and all sorts of e-mails.

Then, in my Sophomore year of college, when I started applying for professional internships, I knew “TheShadow001@Yahoo.com” just wasn’t going to cut it. I changed my main email to AlexShebar@gmail.com and never looked back…

There was another thing, though, that helped me make the change from online name to real name: the last great Internet obsession. It was my Freshman year of college - the year of Facebook.

With Facebook, it seemed like, for the first time, the goal was to actually be yourself on the Web. You put up your favorite movies, musics, books, foods, classes, quotes, etc., and, at least in the beginning when there were no privacy functions, anyone at your school could find you by actually searching for you! They didn’t have to know a codename or an account, they knew your name, they knew you…

Of course, like everything on the Web, Facebook changed to give people what they wanted. Now you can have your anonymity by creating faceless groups and accounts, but also change your profile name to any username you choose… (Still, I mostly see people using their real names. Screen names on Facebook just look weird.)

So, now, here we are, the present, and once again, we have another program all about online personas – complete with another batch crazy usernames.

Twitter.

I love Twitter. I’m constantly amused by what people do and say online, compared to what they do and say in real life (some more than others - my best example is for Simpleton001, who is a raunchy-as-hell scooter-riding panda online and a soft-talking, calm, sweet dude in real life).

Additionally, I love the names people choose to match their Twitter identities. I again went with my real name, @AlexShebar – mostly because I was trying to be professional journalist at the time I picked it, but had no idea why others chose what others chose.

So I threw it out on Twitter to ask people what their names mean.

The answers I got were interesting. Not because I had a lot of names explained to me (like where WineMeDineMe came from!), but because those who chose their own name seemed ashamed of it – either they made a joke or claimed to be “boring,” as if being themselves was something embarrassing.

Now, note, nothing was, or is, stopping them from changing their name to something insane – something like screen names of years past. So if they are ashamed of it, why keep it?

Additionally, a lot of people who answered said they’ve had the same username for years - even a decade! – and have never switched it. To me, that’s awesome. They don’t actually “LoveHanson16” anymore, but they’ve had it for so long, and everyone knows them that way, so there’s no need to change it.

I think, though, that is about to change.

When the Internet began, the thing to do was remain anonymous… or at least impersonal. The Web didn’t feel like real life, and it didn’t affect real life, so you could be whoever you wanted to be– a package that came complete with a crazy username. Now, real life and The Web have merged. The Internet affects your job, your family, your social life – everything – in ways you never thought it would even five years ago.

This is why we are seeing more and more people using their real name online today.

When I first had my AIM account, NO ONE used their real name. It would have been weird if you did … In the next 10 years, though, I can see the exact opposite happening and people ONLY using their real name. These crazy codenames would be for people like spys, rebels who hate the system and, mostly, the nutbag crazies – just like it is in real life.

That doesn’t mean we’re there yet. The Web still has this stigma of creepiness and that’s not going anyway anytime soon. When you think about it, it still feels wrong that even a little bit of your personal information is available to anyone on the Web. (Imagine someone you barely know Googling you right now– that’s not a nice feeling, is it?)

Still, overtime, as the Web becomes more and more personal? Those feelings will go away.

It’s like this: 

• When I was 16, I went to sleep away camp. My good friend Tom wrote me a letter and, as a joke, and without really thinking about it, he only addressed it to my AIM username. A counselor had to get up in front of the whole camp, show the letter and ask who “The Shadow” was. This forced me to creep up to the front of the room and accept the letter. Not fun.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you got the same look, and childish mocking (and children can be so cruel), if you too have a weird username for an e-mail or a Twitter or a Facebook in years to come, instead of just being addressed as yourself.

Because, as a great doctor once said, “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

Fact. 

-Alex

Ps. Here are the responses I got to my question. If you’d like to add your own meaning, please, throw it in the comments section! I’d love to have you on the list:

Twitricia: Simple merge of Twitter + 1st name (Patricia). Although, I am a bit of a “twit” sometimes too, so fits!

katieks: my first name + my last two initials because no one ever spells Kelley or Schmid right …

buildingcincy: My Twitter name is just a shortened version of my website. I know…BO-ring.

lorikurtzman: Once I assumed Lori Kurtzman’s identity, I figured I should go all the way.

kblocksom: mine’s is as boring as they come-first initial and last name. #explainyourtwittername

Gemini_Minx: I’m a Gemini and Minx means flirt :)

5chw4r7z: it involves a hyperactive 14yr old and Red Bull @stevemesik / i ain’t gotta explain chit, i’m the 5chw4r7z.

ms5chw4r7z: All combinations of my first & middle name were taken + Bob called Ms5chw4r7z for years on his blog

deafcarr0t: I used the Blind Melon naming convention - disability + fruit/vegetable = name

peeceewizard: Cause. I. Am.

armonde: When I first got online in 93 I was into Anne Rice novels and picked one of the characters to use online

winemedineme: OK, fine. name of my blog, named after… over the rhine (band). seriously. not what you thought, eh? / there was a t-shirt a few years ago that said wine me, dine me, over the rhine me.

abcmom: AlexBryanColin’sMOM

hrisdemi: Like @AlexShebar my twitter name is my first and last name with both shortened. Who would want to RT demeropolis?

AnnaGoBlue: my name + my 2 favorite words to yell.Go Blue! Wolverine blue! I might <3 sports more than is normal.

redrabbit: Red= the hair, my personal branding since middle school. Rabbit= from a photo of me on a bunny bench. / If you didn’t have hashtag 20+ characters long, I could have explained “a bench shaped like a bunny.” :P

GoMariaGo: It’s a play on my name, Maria Gomez.

krystan_k: First name_last initial because w/o the _, my twitter name would end in “stank” - never good. :)

Megebee: My first name and my middle & last initial.

kellyhudson: It’s, yanno, my name.

Gomer_X: Gomer is obvious. X = extreme. It was a gamer handle eons ago. It was funny to me at the time.

commkel: I am in the communication field (comm) and my name is Kelly (kel). Full name reserved for prof. use. / I sort of stole the idea from the hubs - @prjosh (he is in pr and his name is josh) but wanted to be a bit more broad.

iamyoursavior: My name shows how people see me and expresses my views on religion and anti-biotics! I think the letters look nice as well.

thescottlivesay: My first and last and (The) stating that, there may be other Scott Livesay’s,but I am THE Scott Livesay.

kate_the_great: a nickname my parents have been calling me since I was tiny #explainyourtwittername

amyfab: Nickname given by my gay boyfriends in Louisville :)

amy_nic: Same here — my twitter handle is first & shortened middle name. ‘Prewitt’ is too long & boring…

tom_streeter: Obviously I have no imagination

xubench: The college I graduated from, plus my nickname (a play on my last name) from college as well

JoeLRobb: First, last, separated by middle initial. Bonus: Stole my cousin, Joel’s, twittername, ‘cept his last name is Bruce.

Brodi3man: Clerks / MallRats Jay “snoochie boochie brodieman” Added the 3 for an e cuz common online alias.

RadioCarla: It’s a field loved working in (miss terribly) and my first name.

udandi: my alma mater (UD)+ nickname (Andi)

Classicgrrl: everyone already knows-classicgirl is a song by James Addiction. Girl is grrl in reference to the punk riot grrrl movement

Lumenia: A name I used back in the heady days of text RPGs, eventually became my online alias. From Latin Lumina = light.

benp2001: I got my yahoo mail account in 2001. Hence my timeless, and perpetually ultra-modern moniker.

JaytheBigLug: my name and a pretty blunt description :)

ping311: PING and/or PINGY has been my knickname since ‘92 from my love of PINGuins. 311 is my all time fav music

justfrigginAlex: I couldn’t shorten ‘impeccably disheveled’ and keep the je ne sais quoi.

Fozziebare: My ex used 2 call me Fozzie but there are too many Fozzies so I went with Fozziebare to avoid copyright infringement

D_Little: First initial, last name. Plus, ppl throughout my life have called me “D. Little” as a nickname.

BarbaraKB: BarbaraKB is first name plus middle and last name initials. Had this for over 4 years now.

Bgator13: My name is Brandon and I’m a huge #Gator fan…plus its my xbox live gammer tag

bshermcincy: The first part of my name goes back to my original AOL name / Bsherm also works on another level since my grandfather taught at Withrow for 35 years and went by name Sherm

redshoegirl: I have always liked red shoes. My alter ego would wear them everyday. Seemed fitting for Twitter, dontcha think?

lambzilla: it’s the pet name my husband gave me…because I can be sweet as a lamb & I also get mad like Godzilla.

MarchMoon: I was born during a full moon in March

amrbetty: I work for amr and I love betty boop

infinitepet: favorite spoon song

DIYSara: my name is sara (no h - it fell off at birth) and i always say to myself “do it yourself sara” …

A_Portmanteau: Word Nerd Extraordinaire

MrGuilt: It’s an anagram of a phone number I had.

OneWindBlows: Toad the Wet Sprocket song

yo_bj: Name + hidden emoticon.

JoeKikta: It’s my name….:)

steinmam: UC email handle - first 5 letters of last name, first initial, middle initial, stuck as a nickname

CincySteve: I don’t live in Cleveland and my name isn’t Sam

paulhenrich: Mine is meant to be a convincing pseudonym. Oh carp. I’ve said too much.

mojojacob: well i used to be “veganjacob” & that’s pretty obv. / now my handle reflects a nickname& overall awesomeness

bensherman01: What (paulhenrich) said lolz

allisonjo1: allisonjo1 is my gmail address, plain old allisonjo was taken. my mom went by mary jo as a kid (middle name josephine)  

simpleton001: Sibelius, after the Finnish composer. Simpleton, from an XTC song, Mayor of Simpleton. 001 based on James Bond. I wanted a name that was both high and lowbrow. The Panda thing was an accident that I can’t shake but like.