Your Best Screen Name May Be Your Email Address
By Rich Menga on Nov 11, 2009 in Featured, Internet & The Web | comments(2)
A problem with instant messaging is that it can be tough to get the same screen name on all services you use. Most people these days choose to employ the use of a multi-protocol instant messaging program such as Digsby, Trillian, Miranda, Adium or Pidgin, and having all those different names can be aggravating for others to remember. You can, however, use your email address as your screen name for just about every single IM service there is.
Before telling you how this is done per each service, there are a few things to bear in mind.
The email address you choose as your screen name must be one that you own and use regularly. In other words, don’t use your work email address.
Don’t use an email address that is "tied" to your ISP, because at some point in the future you may change ISPs.
Try to use an address that doesn’t have any dots, dashes or underscores in it. If you can’t do that, that’s understandable, but be aware that some IM services won’t permit usernames that contain characters like that.
How to register your email address as your screen name in..
MSN/Windows Live
- Go to www.live.com.
- Click the Sign in link at top right.
- Click the Sign up button on the left.
- The first field will be Use your e-mail address. Proceed from there.
AIM
- Go to www.aim.com.
- Click Get a screen name at top right.
- Choose Use an existing email address as a Screen Name. Proceed from there.
Google Talk
This one takes a few hoops to jump thru to get this working, but can be done.
- Go to www.google.com.
- Click the Sign in link at top right.
- Click Create an account now at bottom right.
- Use your current email address as your screen name on the next page and continue sign-up.
The hoops you have to jump thru at this point are that after you’ve created your Google account, you will need to also create a Gmail account in order to use the Google Talk service. Once you’ve finished signing up, go to www.google.com/accounts and add in the Gmail service. Yes, you will have to create an Gmail account "on top of" your Google account, but both will be "tied" together afterward. Then people can start sending you instant messages via your Google Talk account.
Yahoo!
This IM service doesn’t allow the creation of accounts using your email address, however, being that MSN/Live accounts and Yahoo! accounts can interact with each other easily, all anybody has to do is send you messages to your MSN/Live account via the Yahoo! service and you will receive them, so the creation of an additional Yahoo! screen name isn’t necessary.
Advantages of using your email address as your screen name
1. It’s guaranteed to be available.
In order to use an email address as a screen name, it must be validated on sign-up by sending a confirmation email to that address. What this means is that the only person who could use your email address as a screen name is you, so it’s guaranteed to be available.
2. It eliminates a lot of confusion.
One screen name for all your IM services you use is mighty convenient. It’s also easy not only for you but for the people you chat with.
3. It makes it easy for people to know what your email address is.
Your email address is your screen name, so those you chat with don’t even have to remember what your email address is, because it’s already in their contact/buddy list.
Disadvantages of using your email address as your screen name
1. It makes it easy for people to know what your email address is.
Yes, this is listed as an advantage but it can serve to be a disadvantage, because maybe there’s certain folks you don’t want knowing your email address.
2. Slight possibility of confusion.
If your screen name is you@hotmail.com, and a contact wants to communicate with you over AIM, you may have to convince them, "Yes, that is my screen name. Seriously. It does work. It’s not just MSN/Live." People aren’t used to seeing a screen name as an email address.
3. You will have to tell everybody to switch over to your new IM screen name(s).
There’s no way around this unfortunately. However when you do get everybody to know your new screen names, it’s well worth it.
Why bother doing this at all?
Ultimately it’s the most convenient way to handle your email and IM communications. Everything is centralized around one screen name. The best part is that you don’t have to radically shift around anything. You can still use the same email and the same IM clients you’ve always used. The only thing changing here is your screen name and nothing else.
And as stated above, nobody on your buddy/contact list has to hunt for your email address. They know what it is right up front.
In fact, if you used this in concert with your social networking profiles (which all have the ability to find contacts by email address,) this even furthers the convenient use of your email address as your one screen name.
Who would have guessed that the email address was the best screen name all along?



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