Embarrassing usernames not always so funny

Aug. 30, 2009 — Your username. It’s your college calling card, your identity for four (or more) years, and the first thing you type when you sit down to a computer. When we enrolled, most of us were just looking for the purest form of a username: a first initial and last name. But with more than 100,000 students across nine campuses, we can’t all be pure.

So, what happens when the letters in your name align perfectly to create a little username joke? We all know someone with an alpha-numeric combination that just didn’t come out quite right.

When students enroll to create their first IU accounts, an algorithm calculates possible usernames based on a series of rules, said Julie Wernert, University Information Technology Services external communications manager. Because usernames are only used once, students choose from a list of options based on their first, middle and last names.

While it’s fun to believe a bunch of UITS people sit around, eat popcorn, talk programming, and create ridiculous username choices anytime they get the chance, it’s actually a computer that doesn’t recognize dirty words, inside jokes, or ironic pop culture references. This means if you have a funny or unfortunate last name, there isn’t a person on the other end monitoring the choices.

But even Martha Anne Showers, whose name doesn’t usually summon a giggle, wasn’t safe.

When Showers, an IUPUI law student, signed up for her username, she was hoping to find mshowers, a username she had always used.

“Apparently mshowers was already taken,” she says. “I had to choose from several computer-generated options. Most of the options were long and confusing.”

She chose maanshow.

“When I saw this username, I immediately realized it would be easy to remember. Moreover, it made me chuckle because I immediately thought of the former comedy ‘The Man Show’ with Jimmy Kimmel. I only saw a few episodes because I didn’t really care to watch females jumping on trampolines in bikinis.”

Nevertheless, Showers said the username makes her laugh and that she will probably never forget it, even if some doubt the validity of her username.

“The feedback I get from my peers is quite comical,” she says. “Most people don’t believe me at first. But, once they realize I’m telling the truth, they usually laugh or say something like, ‘How cool.’”

Andrew Fish, who ended up with andfish, says his username experience has been generally positive. Catherine Dick, however, has not been so lucky.

The IUPUI student said her University e-mail, dick@iupui.edu, has added obstacles to her Internet use.

“There are several websites that I can’t sign up for or get a username to log in because it says my last name is profanity,” she says.

If you do have an unfavorable username, you can have it changed. According to the IU Knowledge Base, you need a legitimate reason for the username change (legal name change, misspellings, harassment, marriage, etc.). Unfortunately for some, a computer-generated joke just isn’t enough of an identity crisis.