@ Pegs: Thanks for catching the “pot” typo. Just fixed it in the index.php. I’ll check to see if it appears anywhere else, too. By the way, I’m coming to Chicago this summer because I’m speaking at an event. Will shoot you my travel details when I have them.

@ A: Ooooh, VERY good points — especially the stuff about work life / personal life and how people might be treated differently based on their nickname. There have been a few articles written about how people react to online nicknames that reveal sex, ethnicity, region and other stuff (i.e. CaliGirl84, thug4eva, PinoyPower, etc.). Interesting reads. And I hear you on the “already judged me without acquiring any new evidence.” I actually had someone from my old church meet me for the FIRST time and say, “I heard about you. You’re one of those cases where people say your reputation proceeded you.”

@ Atherton: You’re funny!! :) We should soooo meet in NY for coffee / drinks sometime. :)

@ Letinstar: Okay, so now I’m curious to know what both are. :)

@ AnthonyB: That’s two people who’ve said, basically, “it depends on the site.” That’s interesting. I haven’t been on online dating profiles in a while but, if I ever go back, I’m not sure if I’d use “funkybrownchick” as my username. Men FREAK OUT when they think I’m going to write about them.

@ Lamesabassman: Got point about the “why hide.” My theory is: It’s IMPOSSIBLE to be anonymous online. Sure, you can make it harder for people to find out your name — hence, shutting out people who can’t be bothered to make the effort to find out — but you’re never completely anonymous.

@ Eric Pratum: No prob, babes! :) I like sharing interesting links I find online. And, yeah, I think the “say what you do” stuff is smart. I noticed “Tiffany” switched to “Tiffany_PR” and now everyone knows what she does. I thought that was a very smart move! For me, I’m sticking w/ “Funky Brown Chick” because it’s who I am. :)

@ Baba Doodlius: I wondered what you were going to say. :) And YES Baba Doodlius is very uniquely identifiable.

@ Merri Lee: Unfortunately, the world is filled with people who lead miserable lives and/or lack a strong sense of self-identity / self-worth. When you’re happy with what and who you are, you don’t want others to think you’re someone else, right?! Like, seriously, using your example, the dude who posted something PRETENDING to be “Will Wheaton” — if that wasn’t his real name — had to have something deeper going on mentally. When I see stuff like that, my question is always: “Why would someone do that?” Rarely is the answer: “Because they’re a well-adjusted person who leads a happy life.”

Recently, I sat in on a talk where someone made a pretty persuasive case for mixing your name with something descriptive about what you want/like to do online… for me, that could be something like epnewmedia instead of ericpratum. I’m pretty sure I’ll stay with just ericpratum, but it was nonethless an interesting idea. Not seeing it a ton though online.

lamesabassman……. this is a very small world, be kind…

Eventually this, as well as the more considered writing about my life that I learned to practice diligently over the past two years, and a certain increased amount of caution that I never before had online, has led to the kind of name recognition that immediately makes me known to people, because they know what to expect. It’s gifted me with writing gigs, design clients, and even full-time employment and a host of amazing friends. So I’d say the trauma I went through because of being too “out” was eventually well worth it.

Also, once you have, as I have, had “I HATE YOU ATHERTON BARTELBY!” leveled at you across the entire world wide web, seeing it sprayed across the side of a bus is really not such a big deal anyway. ;-)