Choosing a Twitter Username

Twitter is a social networking site for all sorts of networking groups and while there isn’t really a right or wrong way to make a Twitter username, there are definitely better ways than others. If you’re a business professional who wants to use Twitter to attract clients or promote your work, you’ll want to take care with how you label yourself with your username. Likewise, if you’re looking to make friends and not simply sell something to people, you’ll want to take care not to make your name sound like something people will mistake as you as a spammer of some sort. The following tips are not written in stone but do consider them when it comes time to make your Twitter username.

Use your real name.

My twitter username is @IsabellaSnow. Simple for me to remember, an easy way for others to identify me and (hopefully) not a username that will make people think I’m selling the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, as so many spammers seem to claim. If your name is already taken by someone else, you can always add an underscore, dash, middle initial etc to change it up a bit.

Use your company name.

If your tweeting is business based and your business is called PolkaDots, then a good twitter name for you would be @PolkaDots. Simple, right? If your clients don’t know you personally, you don’t want to use your own name as no one will recognize it. If you’d like to have them get to know you, you can always tweet under two accounts.

Don’t make a spammy name.

There are loads of people selling naughty products on Twitter and their names are often the name of the product they are selling. Tweeps do not identify with objects, especially the type which make a whirring noise when turned on. If you want to get people’s attention, market yourself and people will naturally come to learn that you sell these things, and if they are interested they will buy one. But putting them off right from the start isn’t going to help your cause at all.

Don’t use the word guru in your username.

Well, unless you actually are one, I guess. It might be alright as a joke, but a lot of people claim to be marketing gurus and normal people avoid these tweeps at all costs. Marketing gurus, finance gurus, banking gurus, love gurus, money gurus – if you were really a guru, I think you’d be tweeting a lot less and enjoying your massive amounts of personal wealth on a private island somewhere.

Don't use gibberish.

If you don’t want to use your name, that’s fine. But don’t create some bizarre jumble of letters that no one can read, as this makes it look like you couldn’t be bothered to think of something intelligible. It will also make you look like a spambot.

Make a statement.

If you want to promote some lifestyle or let people know something about you just from your name, you can always make a short statement with it. For example, if you’re wanting to encourage people to live a green lifestyle, you can call yourself @GoGreen. If you’re a diet consultant, you might want to call yourself @EatWell. You get the idea, right?