Although a clear exaggeration, this image does bring into focus one of the seemingly inane choices of one's life: selecting a username for an online forum or other cyber interaction. However, one could argue that this simple act of picking an online nom de plume holds far more weight than expected. When one creates an account name, it gives one a chance to further define the however-fictionalized online version of themselves: it may be as direct as ILoveCats123, a name clearly expressing an affinity for felines, or perhaps something less obvious in nature, such as FrancieNolan, a reference to Betty Smith's 1943 novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. ILoveCats123 might behave very differently than FrancieNolan in an online chatroom, and a response by Fan4Favre would most likely contrast even further.
What do you think? How much impact does a screenname have? Do you use a specific username for everything, or do different types of sites cause you to change the name you use?
5 comments:
First of all, you had me at Francie Nolan. God, I love that book. Secondly, is the picking of a name to demonstrate affinity really meritorious or socially valuable? Before the internet, you had to integrate your beliefs, values, likes, and interests into the personality you carried with you. There were no handy name tags to present who you were to the world. Are we missing something by allowing the transmission of who we are and what we are about to be reduced to a "handle?"
On the other hand, it is a kind of cool, regressive thing to have a handle that is amorphous, that might generate interest in you, because it suggests a deeper level of complexity-- for instance, if a screen name is "socialconstruct," or "solopsism" or something else attractive in an intellectual way, maybe it opens intellectual and social discourse that otherwise would not be attainable. When I was a kid, I had a teacher who suggested that because we all watched so many situation comedies, that none of us would be fulfilled in life until we had a "theme song," like the Brady Bunch song or the one from Gilligan's Island, both songs which stated the show's whole premise in a pithy, catchy, one minute burst of music. Maybe "screen names" are today's theme songs. Who knows what kind of identity portfolios your kids will have!
I'm really glad that you brought up this element of online interactions. A screen name is the single most concentrated fragment of our personalities online. Whether they be a realistic representation of our true selves or not, they have the potential to define our behavior.
My nickname is "Two Queens," given to me by my Sophomore math teacher who discovered that my first and middle names were both Queens of England (Victoria Elizabeth). Recently I had to make up a screen name for youtube so that I could upload videos. Unfortunately twoqueens was taken. Hating having to spend time thinking of a clever username, I put in the first thing that came to mind: "twoqueensplease." I don't think that the name is representative of my true personality, and to be honest, I'm not sure that I care. But that is the beauty of the internet. If the person you make yourself to be online is not who you are in reality, no one needs to know.
i like your point about references to outside texts and music or just plain interest subjects. Also, i doubt that it will reach the point where we communicate all online, i think if we make a big jump to that kind of communication the technology will be much more advanced, hand held and maybe even voice activated (like dragon writing programs).
Usernames have become the "first impression" of technological interaction. If you believe first impressions carry a great deal of weight, then your username will reflect that in terms of time and effort taken to choose it.
It is an interesting point. I feel like I only really notice usernames when the person has made an interesting point or has a good name. For example, if someone says some very rude comment I often look at their username as a response. I don't know if this is a mental "this person is rude" note or if it is a subconscious affirmation, "I suppose the name BeTTerThanYoU would be a rude person". Either way it is something that I know I do when interacting online and I often wonder how much weight it holds when interacting.
If someone has a very clever username, or a very geeky one, I will no doubt want to interact with them more.
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