Five Steps to Getting the Perfect Username
by Eoco
Following Kage’s post from the SGC User Blogs on Wednesday, I got to thinking about how to create a really good username. After a bit of though, I came up with 5 simple steps that will secure you an entry to username heaven.
Username Nirvana, after the jump.
Step 1 - Keep it short
No one likes a long username - they’re hard to remember, take a long time to type in and are often hard to read. I’m not suggesting that you have a username that’s shorter than 4 characters, but for usernames, shorter is always better. I would say 10 characters is an absolute maximum, but 6 or 7 is where you should be aiming for. If you can think of something shorter, then go with that.
Step 2 - Make it abstract
A common mistake people make when picking a username is trying to name it after someone or something else. I don’t care if you’re Just Cause’s biggest fan, and I doubt anyone else does. ‘Eoco’ means nothing, well not intentionally anyway (The Essential Oil Company annoy me), and neither should your username. Don’t call yourself David Beckham, Masterchief, IKEA, Fuji FinePix S9100 9.0 MP Digital Camera or any other proper noun that you can think of. Wanna know how I came up with ‘Eoco’? I saw an anagram and amongst the jumbled up letters was the word ‘Eoco’. It was short and totally abstract. Your username must mean nothing.
Step 3 - Only use the alphabet
Do not use a single number or piece of punctuation in your name. ‘3oco’ or ‘?0c0′ are nowhere near as effective as ‘Eoco’. Numbers and punctuation merely show that the username you actually wanted was unavailable. If it’s unavailable, think of a new one - don’t try and get around it.
Step 4 - It must be one word
You username must not contain a single space. Not even one. If it’s two words, then it isn’t short enough and you’ve broken the first rule. By having more than one word you are reducing the impact it has as a memorable name. This doesn’t mean you can just skip the space and have two words as one word. ‘HaloFan’ is just as useless as ‘Halo Fan’, likewise ‘IAmAwesome’ is just as rubbish as ‘I Am Awesome’.
Step 5 - Make it easy to spell
This is simple enough, your username must be easy to spell. Calling your self ‘Cappuccino’ is not going to help anyone, you included. If someone wants to PM you, or add you to a friends list it only takes one typo to add the wrong person, or presume you don’t exist. Of course if you want a good username you shouldn’t try to make a pattern using letters. ‘XxEocoxX’ or ‘0oEoco0′ looks ridiculous and just makes it harder to remember and spell.
There we go, 5 steps to getting the perfect username. Obey all these and you should be well on your way to username heaven.
The username for you.
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Originally Posted by Azimuth
