How long does it take you to choose a username?

[Naira]

I just ended a 40+ minutes Skype call with my father who had called to ask me to create an e-mail account for my mother, so she could create an account for her taxes.

After I spent 5 minutes creating her e-mail account and giving instructions to my father about how to log into it from his computer, we proceeded with creating her taxes account. It took my father 40 minutes to come up with a username and password combination. He didn't like anything, some were too short, others too long or too complicated. I was so frustrated by the end, waiting and waiting for him to approve of some username.

Of course, I realize my parents are in their late 50s and not comfortable around computers, which is understandable. I do not expect them to be fast and efficient in this area. However, this was not a computer-related thing, it was a simple decision for a username they are going to use once a year and no one will ever see.

How long does it take you to choose a new username or a new password? Do you spent so much time thinking about the perfect one or do you just choose one quickly?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I almost always use the same one. I have a handful that I choose from, with some variations.

Incidentally, TrekBBS is the only place where I use this name.

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

I've had the same basic username (with a few variations) since I first signed onto the internet back in those halcyon days of 1998.

 

[scotpens]

I have a single username for just about everything, and I came up with it on the spur of the moment. I just combined my first name with part of my last name.

BTW, I'm 60 and I'm perfectly comfortable with computers. So it isn't necessarily an age thing.

 

[Mary Ann]

I also use pretty much the same one everywhere except for banking. If I used different user names I'd never remember them all. I have enough trouble keeping my passwords straight.

 

[Mudd]

I'd have to ask my parents.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

Tis but the work of a moment.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I have three I've used. Though Nerys Myk is only for this site. When I first joined I wanted a Trek based name, so I Bajoraned my real name. The other two are based on my name, too.

 

[Amaris]

I have a shortlist of names I use, so only a few moments.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I always use Mr. Laser Beam when I can, because I am a huge fan of the Alan Parsons Project. I chose that name long before I ever got into baseball - the acronym is a total coincidence.

(For awhile here, I was using the name Babaganoosh. I got that from the TV show MXC. Then after having had that one for awhile, I switched back to this one.)

I also use pretty much the same one everywhere except for banking. If I used different user names I'd never remember them all. I have enough trouble keeping my passwords straight.

You should try 1Password. It's probably the most massively useful app I've ever bought in my life. It remembers all your passwords and usernames, and generates new ones for you. It even fills them in on websites you visit.

(The only password you have to remember is the master one that unlocks the app.)

 

[Toxteth O´Grady]

When I joined here I wanted something that people could remember, like an actual name. No, Toxteth O'Grady isn't my real name. But I'm sure fans of a certain 1980s Britcom recognize it.

Most other places I use the name Kyle Neets. That's my real first name along with a nickname that my brother gave me a very long time ago when we were kids (and he still calls me Neets to this very day, I'm 31).

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Of course, I realize my parents are in their late 50s and not comfortable around computers, which is understandable.

The issue is discomfort and lack of experience, not age. Some of us who are older than your parents -- by just a little or by decades -- are very comfortable with computers, thank you. Last week, I helped a 30something open her first email account, including picking a username and password. It took forever. I've been using computers since she was a toddler. Setting up a new account for myself would've taken me five minutes.

 

[Pondwater]

I have a shortlist of names I use, so only a few moments.

Same here.

 

[Starbreaker]

I've got one username that I use for everything now, and it's not this one anymore.

 

[Toxteth O´Grady]

My dad is 63 and computers have been a passion of his since the '70s. He actually bought a Commodore PET when they came out in 1977! There may be a few things he's not that knowledgeable of, but I often come to him with computer questions. Except anything Apple. He knows jack about that stuff.

 

[auntiehill]

I always use variations of the same username and I have passwords that all have similar themes, so it's never that hard. My Mom is the same way; she's 80 and is very internet-savvy. Age doesn't have much to do with it.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

My favorite is having to explain to people every few months for years that their gmail or whatever exists on the internet and they can access it from other computers and even when they go on holiday and it has not been destroyed when their computer melts down from all the viruses they've gotten. Age didn't have anything to do with it though, just familiarity and comfort zones and eventually ability to retain new information.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Choosing a username is a painstakingly long process for me, and I have been comfortable with computers since I was a child. I have just never in my life been able to find the perfect username. Something that shows my personality, that is easy to read and understand, that is not already taken, that is witty and creative, that fits the theme of the site...that sums up what is ME. All of the usernames I've chosen are just inferior options that I settled on after not being able to think of anything better. Some people have such perfect usernames and I think, I want one like that! But I just cannot think of anything good. It's actually really frustrating.

So I take forever and ever to think of something, and I'm still not satisfied with it. Someday...

 

[Ashu]

I've been using this same combination of hasu/ashu for 8 years so it takes me maybe 5 seconds. Im at the point where if I use something else I won't remember

 

[Smellincoffee]

If I use a username other than smellincoffee for a forum, I almost never remember it, aside from the old German name I use, having become attached it after I wrote a fantasy series with a King Arthur-type figure. I've been using SC since 2000...