What is your screenname saying about you? Does it send the wrong message?
This article is pretty interesting. It lists some of the screennames that people use on dating profiles that get both positive and negative attention.
Here’s the short and sweet of it:
GOOD
- Names that draw attention to a physical feature
- Examples: blueeyes, cutie
- Playful or flirtatious names
- Examples: fun2bwith, i’msweet
e’s thoughts: A good screenname highlights an interesting and unique bit about yourself. For example, my AIM screenname is d20dreamgirl (sadly, somebody out there has geeksdreamgirl already!). The name is appealing to guys who know (and love!) D&D and other d20 games. It’s also intriguing to those who might not know about it.
As my personal preference, I hate flirty names. That’s just me, though. Guys, be warned that if your screenname is too flirty, it will probably come off like you’re looking for one thing and one thing only.
BAD
- Names that denote culture/education (mostly for women)
- Examples: wellread, welleducated
- Straightforward, boring names
- Examples: smith24, justme
- Names that denote wealth
- Examples: wealthyandwise, lovemyporsche, entrepreneur
e’s thoughts: What does it say about our culture that men are less likely to click on a girl’s profile if her screenname denotes education or culture? (Le sigh.) Guys, if you’re looking to catch a girl who values education and culture, please feel free to use a screenname like JoePhD or HandsomeLibrarian. I’d be all over that and I know all my geek sisters in the world would be too!
Boring names are boring (duh!), BUT if you have a quality main picture and a well-written profile, many girls will overlook you being Joe12345.
Wealthy names are going to attract gold diggers. If you want a piece of arm candy who will cheat on you and drain your bank account, then by all means, go for lovemyporsche. If you just happen to make lots of money because you can code like the wind, then stick with CodeMonkey411 and attract a JoCo-loving, sweet and wonderful geek girl.
Happy dating, Geek Friends.
About e
Was my Screen mane say about me?>-)
To someone who knows the mythology behind the name, it speaks volumes.
To those who don’t… it implies you have a cat named Loky.
It’s a good thing I don’t do dating sites, because my screen names never tell anything about me. They’re almost always some version of Calophi, which is the alias I’ve been using since high school.
I think the last name I used that can be descriptive at all was when I was 15-ish: LoopyJ98.
I’ve also used Morlith and Mercurer, also both names I made up.
Calophi is at least intriguing!
Which only leaves me to wonder about my name…
Or rather, wander off scratching my head.
I had the same Match screenname for over a year, and NO ONE “got it”. Is that as depressing as I think it is??
I never got it.
It’s either depressing or incredibly cool that you can be that obscure. You choose!