usernames, and their nature?

One thing I have been thinking about lately is changing my online username.

I guess I try to keep the same one across websites. Well, not the exact same but usually a pretty neat variation. Once in a while I google the old usernames and see what comes up. Its fun, and usually full of discovery.

During one of these explorations of my innserlf,past I was somewhat surprised to find some other person using the same username. Is there some kind of connection between us? Two humans that have no knowledge of each other...no connection save we picked the same meaningless permutation of letters and numbers to call ourselves?

Choosing a new username can be difficult. Its the age old question, whats in a name? How do you describe yourself in a word or phrase? A r0ze by any other smell something something

Maybe the reason its so difficult (for me at least) is because it seems sort of backwards; the nature of an online username is the complete opposite of your real life name. (define nature?)


Examine the nature of your online user name. I'm sure there is a wiki on this, but not now. Do you ever use it? (There was a riddle something like "what can you give away yet always have?") Its just seems odd and for some reason I am happy I didnt have the task of naming myself.

So I sorta lost track with this post but....you can probably extend what I was going for. Some other notes:

- Is it possible to have a unique username spread across the web? This might be a fun experiment to try. Maybe a bot that just spreads some username....not a spam bot. I wonder how to describe this idea... Are there spam bot olympics and records? Which has the furthest reach? Anon?

- new dating site: hookingup usernames. Biggest problem: privacy policy...

-Do you ever google old usernames and see what comes up?

-How do you pick a username?

Internet friendships

One topic that I was recently talking to some friends about concerned online friendships. Some people had stories about onilne friends they had made over the years. These could be fellow web designers, like minded musicians, random game friendships...just random people you have ran into on the web and forged a friendship with.

Meeting people on the internet can be a challenge. . . . I find it easier in some ways, namely, that there can be as little element of prejudice as possible. Using the Internet, is it possible that we can remove all pre-judgment of perception?

Would removing all prejudice (both conscious and unconscious) even be a good context for meeting people? Or do judging people immediately (irl) protect us from the creepy old men.



Anyway, it is always interesting to discuss online friendships.

What can be gained from meeting people through online forums, games, chats, etc.?