email identity -- big decision?

denverharless · 27 Apr 2002, 07:52 AM

I've been interested in free email providers for awhile because it seemed a good way to maintain an address for a long period of time, while I had no idea what part of the country I would be living in. I was in college in the early nineties, and decided early on that I didn't want to settle for the school email account because it would only be good for the short time I was there.

I've had Yahoo mail for several years now and have often extolled its virutes and greatness over Hotmail for offering full POP access. Now as I have considered whether I want to pay (or continue paying) for what I considered a decent service, I have asked myself what my new identity should be, were I too switch.

What does a domain say about a person? What does your choice of username mean? Do you put your initial before your last name, or do you follow the older method of placing it after? Is it a big deal whether you get your first choice of usernames? I am wondering if anyone has any comments about this. Sometimes I feel like choosing an email address determines my identity, almost as greatly as buying a new car. Does anyone else feel this way, or do people like me make too much out of a string of symbols?

lux · 27 Apr 2002, 08:17 AM

I always use my "first name -- last name". But in this forum, I used my "last name + first initial"...

It is not a problem, as I don't give out the one that contains my real name (too hard to remember)...

Jeremy Howard · 27 Apr 2002, 08:19 AM

Get your own domain. That way you can have as many identities as you like!

It costs $8.95 to get a domain from www.godaddy.com, and forwarding through www.zoneedit.com or www.mydomain.com is free.

**Gankaku** · 27 Apr 2002, 08:35 AM

You're not the only one that feels this way! We want to "hide" who we are on newsgroups, etc. so we sign up with IDs that hide our identity - like me - Gankaku - now what the heck is that?!

(it's a kata in karate, by the way, which in Japanese means 'crane on a rock')...an obsure ID coz I can never sign up as "Lisa" - somebody else has taken that id, right? :-D But even that ID is being used; sometimes I have to sign up as gankaku2.

Then we want a professional looking email so we can give out to contacts. There are variations on one's name: firstnamelastname, fn_ln, ln_fn...oh, you can use dots in between first and lastname or dashes. But if you want professional looking email, you might not want something like hotmail as your domain. So you have to find something that doesn't look cheesy when you give out your email.

For friends and family, I don't think it matters much, but I use webmail at www.nameplanet.com...my family can send me mail to my firstname@lastname.net.

I plan to rename my new fastmail ID to firstnamelastname format so that it will look more professional and I'll be using that to hand out to people when I look for a job, and for a backup for friends, family, etc.

Lisa

**psalzer** · 27 Apr 2002, 09:08 AM

For my first few e-mail addresses I used nicknames but when some of my e-mail started to be for business I went with first initial, last name, which is what I use for this forum. But with my own domains, I can just use pat, which is my name, but of course, never available anywhere.

Nektar1973 · 27 Apr 2002, 09:37 AM

I must agree with most here in saying that if an email address is very important to you, getting your own domain is the way to go.
After all, (anything you like)@(your domain).tld forwarded to a good email provider will give you many possibilities for a sometimes modest price. I Just got one for myself at http://www.namecheap.com for $8.88.
Getting a email provider that lets you choose your "from", is also important to for this purpose.

denverharless · 28 Apr 2002, 02:13 AM

Do you think just using one's last name (like I did for this forum) is a clear attraction for spam?

Also, I'm just curious to know if anyone thinks about this as much as I do. I understand the concern about how the choice of email looks for business, but what about with friends? There must be some people who think it is important--NetIdentity seems to be making pretty good money on this. I recently discovered that they had bought my surname.com, which frankly makes me feel weird. It's like someone else is wearing a wig made from my hair. Maybe I'm over-reacting.

Registering your own domain is a good idea, but I want to avoid having too many options to give out that I cannot manage. If I give my uncle one address and my cousin another, it might cause some confusion.

lux · 28 Apr 2002, 02:21 AM

For frirends, I just give out some funny email addresses, such as this one: spammer@domain.com...

And I always tell them to try some different addresses, of course only the valid ones I have..

obwan · 28 Apr 2002, 08:42 PM

I have 3 types..

1. business
2. friends
3. SPAM

Guess which one gets the most email

esTester · 29 Apr 2002, 01:58 AM

Of course Spam, unless you are a VERY active business person. I have the same setup as you and I get the most spam.

lux · 29 Apr 2002, 04:09 AM

I had the same setup also, and the friends/bussiness ones get most of the email....

(Spammers, come on...

)

denverharless · 29 Apr 2002, 05:08 AM

Which one would you use for places like eBay and paypal? Which would you use for your credit card company? The spam collector or the business address? I would think there would be some advantage to having a semi-stable address for sites like that, so you don't have to keep switching.

esTester · 29 Apr 2002, 07:01 AM

I use my business one for those sites.

lux · 2 May 2002, 03:10 AM

I used my stable address for sites like Amazon. I am sure that I am going to stick with them as long as they are alive...

toco154 · 2 May 2002, 09:11 AM

When I started emailing I only used nicknames. But since about half a year I like to have my firstname on my mail-address, just as gabriel@emailservice.com.

This is my personal solution. I am glad that I still got my firstname at some providers. And use that as my personal address.

For bussiness I use firstname.lastname@emailservice.com

Gabriel

27 Apr 2002, 07:52 AM	#1
denverharless Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Denver Posts: 505	email identity -- big decision? I've been interested in free email providers for awhile because it seemed a good way to maintain an address for a long period of time, while I had no idea what part of the country I would be living in. I was in college in the early nineties, and decided early on that I didn't want to settle for the school email account because it would only be good for the short time I was there. I've had Yahoo mail for several years now and have often extolled its virutes and greatness over Hotmail for offering full POP access. Now as I have considered whether I want to pay (or continue paying) for what I considered a decent service, I have asked myself what my new identity should be, were I too switch. What does a domain say about a person? What does your choice of username mean? Do you put your initial before your last name, or do you follow the older method of placing it after? Is it a big deal whether you get your first choice of usernames? I am wondering if anyone has any comments about this. Sometimes I feel like choosing an email address determines my identity, almost as greatly as buying a new car. Does anyone else feel this way, or do people like me make too much out of a string of symbols?

27 Apr 2002, 08:17 AM	#2
lux The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,274	I always use my "first name -- last name". But in this forum, I used my "last name + first initial"... It is not a problem, as I don't give out the one that contains my real name (too hard to remember)...

27 Apr 2002, 08:19 AM	#3
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,501	Get your own domain. That way you can have as many identities as you like! It costs $8.95 to get a domain from www.godaddy.com, and forwarding through www.zoneedit.com or www.mydomain.com is free.

27 Apr 2002, 08:35 AM	#4
Gankaku Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 3,265	You're not the only one that feels this way! We want to "hide" who we are on newsgroups, etc. so we sign up with IDs that hide our identity - like me - Gankaku - now what the heck is that?! (it's a kata in karate, by the way, which in Japanese means 'crane on a rock')...an obsure ID coz I can never sign up as "Lisa" - somebody else has taken that id, right? :-D But even that ID is being used; sometimes I have to sign up as gankaku2. Then we want a professional looking email so we can give out to contacts. There are variations on one's name: firstnamelastname, fn_ln, ln_fn...oh, you can use dots in between first and lastname or dashes. But if you want professional looking email, you might not want something like hotmail as your domain. So you have to find something that doesn't look cheesy when you give out your email. For friends and family, I don't think it matters much, but I use webmail at www.nameplanet.com...my family can send me mail to my firstname@lastname.net. I plan to rename my new fastmail ID to firstnamelastname format so that it will look more professional and I'll be using that to hand out to people when I look for a job, and for a backup for friends, family, etc. Lisa

27 Apr 2002, 09:08 AM	#5
psalzer Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 2,654	For my first few e-mail addresses I used nicknames but when some of my e-mail started to be for business I went with first initial, last name, which is what I use for this forum. But with my own domains, I can just use pat, which is my name, but of course, never available anywhere.

27 Apr 2002, 09:37 AM	#6
Nektar1973 Essential Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 261	I must agree with most here in saying that if an email address is very important to you, getting your own domain is the way to go. After all, (anything you like)@(your domain).tld forwarded to a good email provider will give you many possibilities for a sometimes modest price. I Just got one for myself at http://www.namecheap.com for $8.88. Getting a email provider that lets you choose your "from", is also important to for this purpose.

28 Apr 2002, 02:13 AM	#7
denverharless Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Denver Posts: 505	Do you think just using one's last name (like I did for this forum) is a clear attraction for spam? Also, I'm just curious to know if anyone thinks about this as much as I do. I understand the concern about how the choice of email looks for business, but what about with friends? There must be some people who think it is important--NetIdentity seems to be making pretty good money on this. I recently discovered that they had bought my surname.com, which frankly makes me feel weird. It's like someone else is wearing a wig made from my hair. Maybe I'm over-reacting. Registering your own domain is a good idea, but I want to avoid having too many options to give out that I cannot manage. If I give my uncle one address and my cousin another, it might cause some confusion.

28 Apr 2002, 02:21 AM	#8
lux The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,274	For frirends, I just give out some funny email addresses, such as this one: spammer@domain.com... And I always tell them to try some different addresses, of course only the valid ones I have..

28 Apr 2002, 08:42 PM	#9
obwan Essential Contributor Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: tatoon Posts: 226	I have 3 types.. 1. business 2. friends 3. SPAM Guess which one gets the most email

29 Apr 2002, 01:58 AM	#10
esTester Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 968	Of course Spam, unless you are a VERY active business person. I have the same setup as you and I get the most spam.

29 Apr 2002, 04:09 AM	#11
lux The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,274	I had the same setup also, and the friends/bussiness ones get most of the email.... (Spammers, come on... )

29 Apr 2002, 05:08 AM	#12
denverharless Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Denver Posts: 505	Which one would you use for places like eBay and paypal? Which would you use for your credit card company? The spam collector or the business address? I would think there would be some advantage to having a semi-stable address for sites like that, so you don't have to keep switching.

29 Apr 2002, 07:01 AM	#13
esTester Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 968	I use my business one for those sites.

2 May 2002, 03:10 AM	#14
lux The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,274	I used my stable address for sites like Amazon. I am sure that I am going to stick with them as long as they are alive...

2 May 2002, 09:11 AM	#15
toco154 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Germany, Oldenburg Posts: 134	When I started emailing I only used nicknames. But since about half a year I like to have my firstname on my mail-address, just as gabriel@emailservice.com. This is my personal solution. I am glad that I still got my firstname at some providers. And use that as my personal address. For bussiness I use firstname.lastname@emailservice.com Gabriel