Origins of names.. Smith.. Baker.. Butcher.. common names, given to represent the person’s employment.. “John The Smithy” became John Smith.. “Tom the Cooper”, Tommy Cooper… well, not “that” one, but you catch my drift?
Pirates used “handles”.. Long John Silver, Blackbeard and so on which became part of our popular culture in 1881 with the appearance of Robert Louis Stevenson‘s Treasure Island.”
More recently came CB radio.. “How to Chose a CB radio Handle”.. “Part of the fun of selecting a handle is doing some soul-searching. Be guided by a name that is a reflection of your identity. Select a CB handle that is an extension of your inner persona ”
Even pop-stars have been known to partake.. *looks towards Ringo Starr and Alvin Stardust with amusement* This season’s X-Factor had a contestant “Storm” whose name was objected to by Simon Cowell.. Why? Where is the harm in expressing yourself with an alter-ego or nick-name?
Now of course, we use “special names” on my beloved Twitter.. I have a “thing” about avatars as you may have noticed but also about Twitter names. You can be whoever or whatever you want to be on Twitter.. I am very good friends with a gerbil and a bear right now but amongst my friends I can also count fake celebrities and politicians and just ordinary people who prefer to keep their identity private for personal or employment reasons. We have all heard horror stories about employers and potential employers “stalking” employees via social media sites such as Facebook and Bebo.
A Twitter name and avatar should show your personality off, or the person you wish to be.. you may like to use your own name, that’s your prerogative but I much prefer the daft ones. We had a little competition one night to name @Feisty_Onion… all night name suggestions were coming in until she settled on that one.. and she really is a feisty wee onion of a girl : )
Chosing a “nickname” on Twitter or anywhere else for that matter is and should remain a basic human right. When you register for a Twitter account, you chose your Twitter name as well as your own Biography, in there you can say as much or as little as you want about youself, you can even blatantly lie – it’s Twitter.. there is no legal nor moral obligation to tell anybody more than they need to know. Recently a very good Twitter friend of mine had to delete his account as people in “real life” were trying to find out his real identity for unpleasant reasons. He is a real loss to Twitter and I know he misses expressing his thoughts in the arena.
Some people tie their Avatar image up to their Twitter name, I used to have a picture of Humphrey Cushion himself as mine but over time I enjoyed posting real photos of myself (if you can call them real!) .
My “proper” name was revealed recently, against my express wishes. That has bothered me a lot, I love being “Humph” and “Ms Cushion” the blogger.. I feel that I have not only had to “come out” about my disabilities in order to defend myself against unsubstantiated allegations but my character has been taken from me as well .
“Humph” has changed of late and I want her back! I want to speak my mind! Well-meaning and not so well-meaning people have tried to silence me, I shall resist speaking about certain subjects but I want to be the spontaneous, gobby, flirty, daft bint of a month ago! I want to dress up and make new avatars every week without fear that they might end up in the papers! So I am bloody well going to! *sticks tongue out*
To that end, today I have made a new Vampire avatar for Halloween, as requested by @Gaijinsan21 : )
Mshumphreycushion's Blog 