To Change or Not To Change...

[lagilman]

So originally I named this account "suricattus" because, well, "LAGilman" and variations of that sort are me being Professional, while "suricattus" is personal/professional getting tipsy together at the bar.

But it has been suggested by Some that maybe it would be better - and make it easier for people to find me - if I changed both LJ and Tumblr names to the more identifiable Gilman variants, and just accepted that my entire personality is personal and professional getting tipsy together at the bar....

(I cannot say they are wrong. not-alas.)

Anyone have any strong feelings about this? Anyone have any feelings at all about this?

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I like the Meerkat label.

[ckd]

I've seen several authors make this sort of move over the years, including cmpriest; I'm always a little sad to see an interesting username disappear (hers was "wicked_wish", which I loved as I love wordplay) but I'll trade whimsy for authors making money any day. (Whether it actually helps, I have no idea.)

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

Personally, I very much enjoyed the story of where the name came from. I would be sad to see it go.
From a practical standpoint, your name is already prominently displayed on this account, so I don't imagine googleability won't be significantly improved.

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

This post prompted me to glance at the suricata account. A Russian user, who created it in August 2003 and seems to have abandoned it in December of 2003. Alas.

[chickwriter.livejournal.com]

If it makes any difference, I did change my username from chickwriter, then eventually realized that I missed that persona so changed it back.

[greatsword.livejournal.com]

I am as much (or more) a reader than an author-wannabe at this point. To my mind, the sidebar links and bibliography top-post are sufficient. (And I do poke at the bibliography on occasion, as I haven't read them all. Yet.)

I follow for the content much more than the user name.

[greatsword.livejournal.com]

I am as much (or more) a reader than an author-wannabe at this point. To my mind, the sidebar links and bibliography top-post are sufficient. (And I do poke at the bibliography on occasion, as I haven't read them all. Yet.)

I follow for the content much more than the user name.

[calendula-witch.livejournal.com]

Another vote here for the Not Our Real Names camp. I like the creative LJ handles; they always do mean something! (At least in the journals I read.)

My professional website is under my Real Name. I blog there, and mirror it here; but here is where I come to read everyone else's blogs, and here is where I get 99% of the comments too.

[nick-kaufmann.livejournal.com]

I understand where that advice might come from, but I tend to think it's baloney. As long as your LJ and Tumblr are linked clearly from your website, there should be a minimum of confusion.

[jesskastar.livejournal.com]

Each industry is different. My industry (human resources) it is very dangerous to cross the streams or show any personality/true you. But it appears that publishing/writing is a much more accepting community of creativity, for obvious reasons.

One thing I have seen over the years is that sometimes one gets so wrapped up in brand and marketing that they hide the more interesting parts of who they are, which is a detriment to them and to those they would attract by chance. Of course this is in general and doesn't apply to all. ;)

In the end we each have different hats and faces depending on where we are, what we are doing, and whom we are interacting with. While you do cross the streams, at the same time here and tumblr feel more you as a person and not just the professional part.

IMHO, as long as you maintain the breadcrumbs for how people can follow you across the net (which you do clearly on your (professional) site) I think you are fine with keeping meerkat/suricattus/etc.

[skaldic.livejournal.com]

I concur -- no need to change the LJ account name.

[girasole.livejournal.com]

I would be sad to see Suri/Meerkat go.

[jperceval.livejournal.com]

Just as long as you stick around here, you can call yourself whatever you want! :-)

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

I would miss suricattus.