Twitter for Dummies - Laura Fitton [14]
If you already have a Twitter account, do not text “join” to 40404 or you will lock your phone into a separate new account. You will not be able to add your phone to your original account until you delete the new one. See instructions on how to set up your phone to work with your existing Twitter account below.
Picking a Name
On Twitter, your username is your identity. Laura’s Twitter name, or handle, is @Pistachio, and it has become the way that many people know her. She’s met thousands of people in real life after initially connecting with them through Twitter, and it’s not unusual for her to hear, “Hey, Pistachio!” from across the street or across the room at a party. @Pistachio has, in effect, become her nickname. If you want a quick glimpse at the search engine “optimization” (SEO) value of Twitter, just run a Google search for the word pistachio and you’ll find her Twitter account is one of the very first search results. Crazy.
Why @Pistachio?
Many people have asked where the username @Pistachio came from. Simply, Laura’s first office was painted an unfortunate green color — that precise, indescribably ugly shade of Grandma’s favorite ice cream on summer nights at Friendly’s by the rotary in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Laura first adopted the color as a company name in 1997, and over the years it has become part of her identity. Thus, she now is @Pistachio.
When we refer to Twitter usernames in this book, we follow the convention of putting an at sign (@) before the name, because that’s how you refer to other users on Twitter. (For example, if you want to say that you’re reading Laura’s book, you might say, “Reading @Pistachio’s book.” That way, people who follow you on Twitter can easily click over to Laura’s Twitter profile, in case they want to follow her, too!) But when you’re actually choosing a username, the @ isn’t part of it. The only characters you can use are uppercase and lowercase letters, and the underscore character (_).
That story emphasizes that you should think about how you want to be perceived both on and off Twitter and how your username fits into that perception. Twitter is a far-reaching service, and if you get really involved in the culture of Twitter, like the rest of the social Web, it undoubtedly spills over into real life. The days of choosing anonymous handles such as sexybabe44, like you may have when you used instant-message programs or chat rooms in years past, are long gone.
If you can sign up for Twitter by using your name or a variation of it as your username (assuming somebody else isn’t already using it), we recommend doing so. It makes your experience with Twitter much easier when the line between online and offline blurs.
For example, if your name is John Ira, you may want to pick a Twitter username such as @johnira or @john. If users have already claimed those monikers, try adding an adjective or descriptor, such as @handsomejohn or @johntheterrible. If you prefer for people not to know who you are, you can choose a name that’s a bit more generic. You can also use a handle that you’ve established on other Web sites. You may also want your username to match your e-mail address — for example, if your e-mail address is doglover1980@whatever.com, you may decide to use @doglover1980 as your Twitter name.
Be forewarned! If you choose to use your last name only, like Michael (@gruen), you may find yourself without a first name in the eyes of other twitterers.
Using Twitter for your business? You can use your company or business name as your username, and you can fill in that business name in the Name text box on the Settings page for your account. But if you do, be sure to include the names of anyone who handles the company Twitter account in the 160 character “Bio” text box on the Settings page for your Twitter profile.