New Username
 

Hey admins and everybody on the 'Downs. I've been absent as of late, but I hope to be more consistent! I have tried a couple of times to get in touch with the admins about this question but have had no luck. I couldn't find anything about double usernames on the 'Downs, but I can assume that they are not allowed? It only makes sense. But since nobody got back to my e-mails I made a second account that I want to use more - so I will not be using this username anymore, because I don't want to be breaking the rules. There was no way to change my username from this account, unfortuntely. So I'm going to be using my new username from now on - I won't go on this one - if that is ok. Thank you and I hope this is ok.

-Matthew

I would just ask why to do that? What's the problem with what you are in the 'Downs right now?

I signed in a few years ago just skimming through the pages by Lommy's advice and just thought one should have a Tolkienish screen-name (from what I gathered). I thought to change it a time or two after I got more used to this forum... but why in the end?

What's the new user-name?

I would like to echo Nogrod here. I could have picked a better username than one of these countless and very unoriginal Elvish ones (especially as it begins with "thin", a word I've never identified with ;)), but I've grown rather used to it and even fond of it (probably partly because Lommy is such a cute nickname, though :D). Also, if I were to pick my personal title now, I'd definitely choose something different. But I don't mind that either. It really doesn't matter if your username is not the perfect one - it has already become inevitably part of your forum persona and I'm sure you're fond of it on some level. And what's so bad with MatthewM anyway? :)

The reason for having a username is to be able to identify the author of a post. That is why change is counterproductive - it would only confuse readers! I can imagine only one reason for abandoning a name, and that is to distance onesself from the contributions that have appeared under it. However, should a member choose to take on a new identity, s/he must realize that other members will no longer know who s/he is, and it will take time to establish a reputation* for worthwhile posts.


*I don't mean rep points, but the positive impression that builds up over time when one's posts have a high standard.

How about a subtly clever literary change? Rather than MatthewM, become matthewm in the manner of e e cummings, who often eschewed capitalization. You will still be you, but more orthographically intriguing.

That was rather what I was thinking. I've been a moderator/admin on a number of boards, and on at least one, the changing of screen names got to be a real headache (usually because the persons doing so were trying to avoid being kicked off the board because of trollish behavior, but not always). If the name is genuinely bothersome to the member (for reasons that they should discuss with the mods/admins), then a case can be made for the wisdom of changing it. But if it's just to try to have what feels like a "genre appropriate" name, I don't think it's really worth it, unless you've only been a member for a few weeks and haven't posted much. For myself, this is the first board on which I've actually had a name that's somehow connected to the genre (as ungainly as it is -- and Morth, I have to cut and paste it myself to get all the odd characters in it :D). Everywhere else, I've usually been "Watson," which is a play on my actual surname. On one board, I was bombarded by queries as to why I hadn't chosen a name more fitting to the subject of the forum, but I found that inevitably, no matter how early on I joined, all the names I might be interested in using were either taken or somehow blocked for use by the board owner. After a while, people got used to it, I got used to it, and all was well with the world. At least it was easy to spell. :)

You must do what you think is right for you, of course.

Well I must say I do appreciate all this feedback! I wasn't really thinking that deep about the name, I've usually used MatthewM on various boards, but I'm bored of it. There's nothing wrong with it, I do like it, but I always wanted a Tolkien name instead. It was all the more incentive to change it when I found that I could use the name of my favorite character. The new username is (you might have seen me post on it before) Peregrin Took. And who could argue the greatness of that name? :)