Choosing a Username for your Twitter Account

The Social Media Creator Group

A Twitter name is a user‘s identity on Twitter.   A user name begins with the symbol “@”.  When a person actually chooses a username, the @ isn't part of the choosing process.  When a Twitter user sends a message to another user, the “@” sign will always be placed before the Twitter name of the user being messaged.  For instance, when sending a message to the user “smcreator” the “@” sign is placed before any message sent to that user like this: “@smcreator Thanks for the RT.”

Make the user name simple and short.  The name should also be easy to remember or in the alternative, make the name unique.  Not many people would have thought “Twitter” would have been such a recognizable name ten years ago, but today the name is common and very recognizable.  Usernames containing the words “Twitter” or “Admin” cannot be used.   No account names can contain Twitter or Admin unless they are official Twitter accounts.   If you own a business, use a company name or, if the company name is too long, use an abbreviated form of the name.  If you are an individual or professional, use your real name if it is available.  

Social Media Creator Group, EzineArticles Author

The Social Media Creator Group is a long company name and would look like @thesocialmediacreatorgroup (Note that a username cannot be longer than 15 characters.) Not only is the name @thesocialmediacreatorgroup too long, it would take up at least twenty-five characters leaving a limited amount of characters to send in every Tweet.  A better name for @thesocialmediacreatorgroup would be @smcreator.  This shortened version of the Twitter name is unique, easy to remember and takes up few of the 140 character limit for Tweets.  If you would like a username like @smcreator,  but it has been claimed, consider selecting a name with a variation such as: @sm_creator or @s_mcreator.  Underscores (“_”) may be used in a username.  Other characters such as  %$!*) cannot be used.  A username can only contain alphanumeric characters (except for underscores). Check to make sure your desired username doesn't contain any symbols, dashes, or spaces.

Want to change your Twitter name? No problem.  Follow these steps: Log in to Twitter.com and visit your account settings pages from the dropdown menu in the top right corner of the page.  On the account settings page, change the username listed in your Username field.   If the username is taken, you'll be prompted to choose another one.  Click Save changes at the bottom of the page.  Changing a username will not affect existing followers, direct messages, or @replies.  Followers will simply see a new username the original profile photo.

Social Media Creator Group