Changing user names?

September 5, 2002 11:56 AM

Question on how to use Mefi, from a newbie....
posted by pjgulliver to Feature Requests at 11:56 AM (54 comments total)

Ummm...guess I screwed that up. My question, is there anyway to change your username once you've registered? I was in such a mad rush to register that I simply typed in my name and initials. Now I feel hopelessly unhip...help me!
posted by pjgulliver at 11:57 AM on September 5, 2002

What would you like your name to be, PJ?
posted by ColdChef at 11:59 AM on September 5, 2002

help me!

Your name, like your user number, is branded upon our collective consciousness forever. Enjoy the stigma that you have created and develop your character as a blacksmith develops his tools.

In other words, be confident that people are actually reading your words and ignoring your name. The name of the game isn't perception, but depth and originality.


-The Poster formerly known as BlueTrain
posted by BlueTrain at 12:01 PM on September 5, 2002

There is some precedence for this kind of question.

If I could change my name, I'd change it to "Nitro!!!"
posted by Hildago at 12:06 PM on September 5, 2002

I'd change mine to American Kitsune. Then I'd kill myself.

(This is why Hildago is my current favorite mefite).
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 12:12 PM on September 5, 2002

changing identities in a community is a big deal, and unless someone has a life-or-death reason for doing it (or something close to that), I'd prefer not to have people changing their names. You own your words and you are defined by them, but if you can change your username willynilly, all sense of identity and personality may be lost.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:13 PM on September 5, 2002

I feel your pain...
posted by patrickje at 12:13 PM on September 5, 2002

How to use MeFi? I use it for cleaning the house. Leaves a gleaming sparkle!
posted by rocketman at 12:15 PM on September 5, 2002

You could sign up for a new name, discard the old. I had to do that, as I was previously "argybarple" before I discovered there was already an "argybarg" here. Just for the sake of clarity, I put a note on this in my profile (so no one thinks I have 2 usernames to argue with myself in comments threads, or whatever...)
posted by Shane at 12:18 PM on September 5, 2002

Not everyone has the foresight of Dong_Resin. Best. Name. Evar!!!

Sorry. Anyway If I could change I'd be "Buster Outlaw".
posted by Samsonov14 at 12:19 PM on September 5, 2002

I hate, hate, hate my chosen name too, because it was the only thing that I could think of when I signed up snuck in. Now I'm stuck with it, though (as well as with the diminutive forms). I feel your pain, but dem's da breaks.

and welcome back, PFKABT
posted by yhbc at 12:24 PM on September 5, 2002

You own your words and you are defined by them, but if you can change your username willynilly, all sense of identity and personality may be lost.

From now on, I'd like to be referred to as Sir William Nilly.
posted by ColdChef at 12:27 PM on September 5, 2002

Well, Hildago is on to my "big secret" so I must change....no, all kidding aside, I see your logic Matt. We are here to participate in a community, and it would undermine the ability of people to participate accurately in discussions if one was allowed to change one's identity willynilly.
posted by pjgulliver at 12:30 PM on September 5, 2002

Killer... I'm PuppySwarm !
posted by Witty at 1:05 PM on September 5, 2002

In the words of the immortal Popeye, "I yam what I yam".

There is no shame in using one's real name.
posted by briank at 1:08 PM on September 5, 2002

There is no shame in using one's real name.

Phew, that's a relief.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 1:10 PM on September 5, 2002

Question on how to use Mefi

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
posted by gummi at 1:16 PM on September 5, 2002

"There is no shame in using one's real name."

Agree, but sometimes it would be nice to "disappear" into a pseudonym.
posted by mkelley at 1:18 PM on September 5, 2002

Question on how to use Mefi, from a newbie....

I'm a newbie too, but I've used MeFi (for months now) to fill that dead time, you know, between arriving and leaving work.
posted by muckybob at 1:50 PM on September 5, 2002

.I simply typed in my name and initials...

Damn. Now everybody's doing it.
posted by zpousman at 1:54 PM on September 5, 2002

I like "pjgulliver." Makes me think of big huge Gulliver amid the Lilliputians in his pyjamas. I say be proud!
posted by Shane at 2:05 PM on September 5, 2002

"How all those Lilliputians got in my pajamas I'll never know!"
posted by gleuschk at 2:17 PM on September 5, 2002

In the words of the immortal Popeye, "I yam what I yam".
briank, wouldn't that be "iyamsk what iamsk"?
posted by quonsar at 2:44 PM on September 5, 2002

Alphabetically, pjgulliver is right next to pjharvey, so you've got that going for you.
posted by Kafkaesque at 2:53 PM on September 5, 2002

The cool thing (from my perspective) or bad thing (from some other perspectives) about using your real name or some clear derivative of it, is that it forces you to really think about what you are saying. Anybody who knows me in the real world would instantly recognize me if they came across my postings on Metafilter. Therefore, I have extra incentive to speak reasonably and not act like a moron. (Of course, if you want to act like a moron, you're out of luck.)
posted by tdismukes at 3:08 PM on September 5, 2002

"if one was allowed to change one's identity willynilly"

Ah, but what if one was allowed to change one's identity to willynilly? Wouldn't that be spiffy?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:48 PM on September 5, 2002

All this talk of Lilliputians and Pajamas has forced me to link to this old gem.
posted by jonmc at 4:11 PM on September 5, 2002

I guess it might be that the j and g are adjacent and both have tails, and that i is much more common between p and g than j is, but I noticed your name several times in threads and read it as pigulliver I thought it was a pretty distinctive moniker. Not that I had more than a vague uneasy feeling what a pigulliver might be, but it was memorable. Mine btw is unintuitively pronounced gamma tone.
posted by gametone at 4:28 PM on September 5, 2002

Well gee guys, glad to know some of you all like the moniker...cool....(btw gametone, my email address in college was pjg@, everyone ALWAYS thought it was pig...pretty clever of them)
posted by pjgulliver at 4:47 PM on September 5, 2002

my email address in college was pjg@,

looks like swedish, or something.

...djd yjou sje tjhe pjg thjat I ljost? Whjch wjy djd jt go?
posted by interrobang at 4:51 PM on September 5, 2002

Of course, if you want to act like a moron, you're out of luck

Or if you are a moron.
posted by dg at 5:04 PM on September 5, 2002

Glad to hear that, pjgulliver. I was fearing my perception / acuity was getting sub-optimal. Well maybe it is, but at least I'm not alone.
posted by gametone at 5:08 PM on September 5, 2002

I wannabe the direct opposite of a username!! I'm particularly enamoured of 'godlessanarchist', or perhaps 'holysocialist'...

[least there's no goddam hyphens or underscores in 'em...]
posted by dash_slot- at 6:02 PM on September 5, 2002

I wannabe the direct opposite of a username!!

smooth_&_mend perhaps?
eyelidelder?
nightmara?
mrsad?

...ok, looks like I shot my wad with those four.
posted by jonmc at 6:07 PM on September 5, 2002

I wannabe the direct opposite of a username!!

That's 'Emanresu.' But be careful, it may mean something in Nihongo.
posted by Shane at 6:39 PM on September 5, 2002

(",)!
posted by dash_slot- at 7:02 PM on September 5, 2002

smooth_&_mend has a job for life round here, methinks, jonmc...
posted by dash_slot- at 7:03 PM on September 5, 2002

"There is no shame in using one's real name."

There is however perhaps some shame in using one's name coupled with a surruptitious reference to grey matter.
posted by ZachsMind at 7:38 PM on September 5, 2002

Secret Life of Gravy was fun for about 5 minutes...now it just seems brown and stodgy to me. It actually started out as S.L.of Greye (greye having always been some part of my on-line personae) but at the last minute I thought Gravy sounded more whimsical. Gravy is not whimsical. Gravy is just heavy and sludge-like. Oh well, I shall just have to overcome this with my gem-like personality.

On preview: Zach I have always read this like you are giving us a piece of your mind. A very fitting moniker for commenting.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:58 PM on September 5, 2002

Thank you S.L. of G. and I must say whenever I read your posts I always feel like I'm learning mysterious culinary arts. =)
posted by ZachsMind at 8:32 PM on September 5, 2002

I have to say, S. L. of G., you have my fav. newbie moniker. It just leaves so much to the imagination. I don't eat Gravy too often, but I know there's something out there...
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:22 PM on September 5, 2002

It's just brown and water, Secret Life of Gravy.

Anyway, I'm just glad I never chose a username--it seems tough.
posted by Nothing at 11:42 PM on September 5, 2002

There is however perhaps some shame in using one's name coupled with a surruptitious reference to grey matter.

Better than ZachsDong, though, for example.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:46 AM on September 6, 2002

It's only a matter of time before somebody chooses the username VibratingBroom.
posted by contessa at 3:25 AM on September 6, 2002

I'm happy with fitting in with that elite band of underscore usernames...

BTW, does stavros have the longest username here?
posted by i_cola at 3:34 AM on September 6, 2002

It's only a matter of time before somebody chooses the username VibratingBroom.

What makes you say that?
posted by VibratingBroom at 3:35 AM on September 6, 2002

I just wanted to use my very first MeTa post to say that I, for one, welcome our new willynilly overlords.
posted by Vidiot at 3:43 AM on September 6, 2002

VibratingBroom: What makes you say that?

Uh oh. That was the 7th sign. The apocalypse is now upon us.
posted by contessa at 4:16 AM on September 6, 2002

what?
posted by baby buddha at 5:40 AM on September 6, 2002

Hi kids, got any bean dip?
posted by TheApocalypse at 5:44 AM on September 6, 2002

It's really about time for Drowning In In-Jokes, whowever he or she is, to make a repeat appearance.
posted by yhbc at 5:46 AM on September 6, 2002

*soils daiper*
posted by baby_jeebus at 5:57 AM on September 6, 2002

Now see what you've done?
posted by iceberg273 at 7:21 AM on September 6, 2002

heeee!
posted by contessa at 7:24 AM on September 6, 2002