Choosing a username on Twitter matters a whole lot more than many other services. As the site gains more and more popularity, I hope these tips on how to choose a good Twitter name will come in handy.
- It will be what you’re known as in the social world of Twitter, not just what you use to log in. Choose something fun! And best to avoid numbers, special characters, or anything unpronouncable.
- People will be typing your username to send messages to you, like “@nicepaul“, so it should be short for their convenience.
- Messages sent on Twitter have a maximum of 140 characters, so it’s annoying to use up 1/10th of a message just with someone’s username.
- If you’re Twittering as your business, use the business name you’re known as (Little Tikes use Twitter under the name of @CozyCoupe – who’d have known!)
- If you’re Twittering as yourself, don’t use your business name. People will only follow businesses they have an interest in for fear of just getting a load of spammy messages.
Sorry to use my friend Hannah as an example here! She’s a fantastic wedding photographer based in London and her business is called Funky Photographers. Her personal Twitter account was originally @funkyphotograph, which is inconveniently long to type, takes up over 10% of any message to her, isn’t her own name and isn’t her business name either because the maximum length for a username is 15 characters (but it sounds like a business so that might deter some people from following her). As a result of reading this, she’s now changed it to @MrsMacG – a shortened version of her surname, and a much better choice!
How to Change Your Twitter Username
If you end up registering with a username you later want to change, all is not lost. Unlike many services, Twitter does allow you to change your username at any point, and you retain all your followers. Remember to tell them about your new username or they might be confused where you’ve gone and who this new person is that they’ve never heard of!
It’s worth mentioning that your username is also your web address on Twitter, so if you change your username any links from other websites to your old messages will stop working. All my messages are stored at twitter.com/nicepaul and because my timeline is set to public rather than private, many of them have been indexed by Google. Were I to change my username, all of these links would break. Not such a problem if you’re a relatively new Twitter without two years of messaging history up there.
You can change your Twitter username on the ’settings’ page – just follow the link in the top right corner of your Twitter page.
Please leave a comment below if you found this post helpful at all (why not include the name you chose!), and remember to follow @nicepaul!
Your note on choosing username is helpful. Couldn’t decide whether to use my own name or some semi-disguised variation.
Hi Paul-thanks for your helpful info-it gave me more insight into Twitter – however, I’m still trying to decide my user name, but, I am closer to a decision with your info. Also, your info was very well-written (unlike some blog posts) – which I really appreciate.
Thanks so much.
I will be a first time user of twitter but knowing it will be part of an identity which could ’stay’ with me – makes for much more careful deciding.
Thanks for providing your thoughtful input.
Twitter is very addictive. I like Twitter more than blogging. the messages are short and straight to the point.
[edit - I've removed the spammy link to a detox website - Paul]
I agree a short name is a good idea. I think also a name that seems close to a “real” name is good. People are less likely to follow cd93l32k username. Because of all the incoming links, twitter ranks really high in search engines, use this to your benefit. If you want people searching your real name to find your twitter area you should make sure to your first and last name in your userid when you register. Good article!
hey i was wondering like would would be a good one for my friend Maura?
I found this helpful!
Hi Paul, thanx a lot. Your artilce will be very useful for many including me.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Paul – thanks for your info !! I was pondering what to use. Very helpful.
Good hints, but I’m still finding it hard to figure out a good business-type name, when my name is already very common and all variants are taken!