Choosing a screen name for a dating site
Because when you’re dating online, which is an extremely competitive medium, you need every advantage you can get.A great username is a differentiator – a unique brand name – something that completely sets you apart from every other person on a dating site.There’s nothing unique, memorable or distinguishing. One of my favorite usernames was The Goose Whisperer, written for a client named Bobbi in 2005. So if you’re wondering how to come up with a clever name that gets attention, and attracts a like-minded person with a great sense of humor, I have an exercise that can help you come up with usernames just like the ones I mention above.Bobbi had a farm with geese in the yard and instead of using The Horse Whisperer, which was way too overdone, we changed one word to great effect. It’s in Volume 2 of my Finding the One Online audio series, and is the cherry on top of your new online dating experience.
Most people take one of two wrong tacks when coming up with an online dating username: 1) Putting ZERO thought into it: Bill10247, Claire T, Ally Cat 2) Putting minimal thought into it, using a literal description: Tall Doctor, Gorgeous Goddess, Fun2Be Around The problem with these efforts, of course, is not that they’re “bad”, but rather that they’re BORING. All of them are plays off of real names, idioms or catchphrases, which is why they evoke smiles from readers.
They represented a dry humor than aligns with my own.
Admittedly, my personal history of username selection isn’t without blemishes.
I don’t attribute this to an alignment of stars, to the mercy of the web gods and goddesses, or even to OKC’s algorithm, which supposedly uses questions such as “What’s worse, book burning or flag burning? Instead, I chalk up my positive online dating experiences -- which, with the exception of a brazen date who rudely shushed fellow theatergoers (referred to amongst my friends henceforth as “the shusher”), has been without horror stories -- to my careful evaluation of a potential match’s username before arranging a date.
Puns and hyper-masculine references were mostly no-gos.
