1 of 2

Write now Article Tools

Three Steps to Being Known Online

1
Find a Unique Username
Use the same username on every project you're involved in. Joining a new forum? Use the same username. Playing an MMORPG? Use the same username.
You'll want to find something unique for your pseudonym - this will represent you to hundreds, thousands, even millions of people. Many people find it easy to find new and unique nicknames, usernames and callsigns. If you're having difficulty, an easy way out is to open up your dictionary and do some browsing, as tiresome as that might be. Another popular method is looking through mythology and using one of the hundreds of mythological names as your own, though you may want something more obscure rather than something that everyone easily recognizes.

Though you may not want to attract the wrong kind of attention, if you want people to know who you are you will need to attach your contact information to your pseudonym somewhere. You don't have to paste your contact information onto every profile and every address book but if people see your pseudonym they should see a link to somewhere that has your information readily accessible.
As you use your pseudonym more often, you may want to commit the "conceited" act of putting your name in a search engine. Find out how easy it is to find you via Google. As you follow the below steps, you may want to use your progress on search engines as a meter for yourself. Start putting in the names of the projects you're involved in and find out how often you appear. Being searchable means that even the least skilled internet users have the ability to find you if they need or want to.

2
Get a Homepage.
This can be as simple as a Geocities page that lists links to the various things you're involved in. Many people who enjoy the social aspect of their online presense choose to build a forum, message board, IRC room or similar utility as their 'base of operations.' Searching for free forum hosts is easy (I just gave you the search terms, in fact), but you'll want to be careful about hosts that are dishonest or mirroring. It's becoming more popular for small internet companies to host forums through a free host but then add advertisements and fees so that the customer ends up with a low quality forum with even more hassle. A forum can be useful as your 'homepage' if you want to keep track of your various associations. If you're involved with projects that bring you close to people, invite them to your forum. They register

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about How to secure your online presence?
We want to hear your view. Write now!