I originally went with the same name but have been using this one now since it’s new and the idea of starting fresh appeals to me.
My initial thought was to reuse my existing name so others who already knew me might see that I’m here since we never communicated outside of the given subs we were apart of. I’m not sure how likely that would actually be though. It’s not as if I was anyone popular or well known. So, my thinking is I’ll stick with my new one and move on.
What have you chosen to do? Start fresh or carry your username over?
Changing usernames and/or deleting mature accounts can be an approach to privacy that may be useful. Tracking algorithms from huge tech companies might be sophisticated enough to identify you anyway with information like public IP/location and browsing habits, plus who knows what else.
Nevertheless, I still change usernames frequently.
Same. After using the same account for a couple years it occurred to me that just by observing what subs I post in you could pretty easily figure out who I was if you were looking for me. Sub for my job, city, hobbies, chronic disease, etc. I figured there’s no good way around that other than just lurking, but since there’s not a lot of benefit to having an old account I might as well get a new one every year or two. Make myself just a little bit harder to find.
Yep this is what I do too. If you’re active in discussions the longer you have your account the more likely it is that it can be linked to your real self