Neck-deep in the digital era, it’s probably obvious to most that the personas we construct for ourselves online don’t necessarily have to relate every fact about our day-to-day lives. When you’re trying to think of the best username for your Skype account, it’s understandable that you might feel a little bit lost, unable to generate name ideas for the sake of not knowing what type of profile you want to construct. Is it professional? Casual? Private? Public? For fun? For work? Some combination of the above? All of these and more deserve your attention when you’re choosing an username, but as usual, Appamatix has your back. Read on to get some spot-on advice for your search for the perfect Skype username.
Skype has been around for a long time, hasn’t it? More than just another chat service, it’s practically a gold standard of online communication. It manages to exist amidst popular messaging services, but also alongside them. For people who need to make international video calls, there aren’t many services that are better than Skype. Most use it even when the only thing separating two people is a few miles. It’s reliable, it’s consistent, it’s mostly unchanging, and it has been in use for so long that it even has its own verb; “Skyping” someone is usually indicative of shooting a video call their way.
It’s not just individuals using it, either. Since the Skype servers are remarkably stable and the system is the epitome of reliable, businesses large and small use Skype to keep in touch with employees, with clients, with vendors…the list goes on and on. If you look at the application’s features alone, it even gives the impression that other messaging services are still struggling to catch up with Skype.
However, we’re not here to wax poetic about all of Skype’s great features, as prominent as they are. We’re here to talk about usernames, and why you should give yours so much thought!
What’s in a Name?
Skype has the immense benefit of actually utilizing two names for each of its users. You’ll sign up with a unique username, as with any other service, but you’ll also be able to choose a display name that people will see once you’ve connected with them. This is another feature that’s fairly standard among chat applications, since it guarantees that other users can see you however you’d like, regardless of a particular name being available.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that your username deserves any less consideration. Regardless of display names, it’s still going to be how people find and see you on Skype, and when you’re extending a contact invitation, you want to make sure that you’re sending the right impression for the right scenario. “360NoScopePlayerxxxx” doesn’t exactly convey a professional attitude, so you’ll have to nail down the purpose that you’re going to have for your Skype account before making a decision.
Names for Casual Use
Things break down even further once you split the categories of professional and casual. Further complicating the fact is that you might want to use an account for both…but that doesn’t mean that we can’t explore it, and find some general advice for you to follow when picking a name. One rule that you should always follow when selecting a Skype username has to do with exactly this, after all:
- Always defer to professional use over casual.
This means that, if you even remotely think that you’re going to need to use your Skype account in a business or professional environment, select an username that reflects a professional persona. It’s sort of a reversal of choosing the “lowest common denominator,” where we’re instead choosing the highest.
As with all things dealing with social media and online communication, presentation matters more than just about everything else. You can believe whatever you want to about usernames, discourse, and online behavior, but others’ perception of those things is going to matter more than what you think. That said, here are a few things for you to keep in mind when choosing a Skype username for strictly casual use:
- Who do you plan to contact? This is the biggest factor you should take into consideration. Will you be Skyping to keep in touch with family? Friends? Both?
- Are you planning on promoting yourself? If you intend to promote yourself through social media for any reason, it can be very useful to use an identifiable “handle” that’s similar to the one you’re using on other social media platforms.
- Are you joining Skype as part of a specific community? This happens more frequently than you might think! Hobbyists, professionals, and pretty much any group organized by similar interests can get together and form a chat and discussion group on Skype, and for some people, it’s the only reason they use the service at all.
Think of the above questions as food for thought. Get the wheels turning, first, and then consider some of these criteria that you can use to figure out a good username:
- Your name
- A hobby
- Specific interests
- Nicknames
- Favorite words/phrases
- Personality traits
If you’re still feeling stuck on the username dilemma for a casual Skype account, fill in some of the above criteria! Write them down if you have to. Jumble them about. Use Google to find some words related to the things you’ve written down. Go nuts! You’ll know the right username when your eyes see it.
Names for Professional Use
Things become a lot more straightforward when you’re generating a Skype name for professional use. Mostly, this is because you can’t get too abstract without running the risk of coming off as unprofessional, which is the exact opposite of what you want.
Here are some things that you should keep in mind as you consider creating an username for professional Skype use:
- Who will you be contacting? Prospective clients? Fellow employees? Others in the same field of work? It’s not only important that your username can be easily communicated, but also that it fits with the crowd you’re joining.
- How often will you use it for business? If you’re only using Skype for meetings once per month, you can consider choosing a more “casual” username. Or, if you’d like, create an account that you use specifically for your isolated, infrequent business use.
- Are you using it for multiple jobs? Hey, sometimes it takes a few sources of income to make a living, a trend which is becoming more and more frequent with high costs of living. That said, some users end up needing Skype for multiple job situations, and as such, need to pick an username that doesn’t cater heavily to one or the other!
With those questions taken into consideration, the number of criteria that you should be choosing from when picking a Skype name for professional use is decidedly smaller. After all, your name is going to be less about creativity and more about clarity, concision, and being able to be clearly identified as soon as people see it.
- Your name
- A profession
- Business name or title
- Education background
- Skills
- Birth date
That’s about as far as we’re willing to go with creative parameters for a professional Skype username! As said above, if you’re choosing one specifically for professional use, it’s very important that your username is very clearly “you” as soon as people see it.
Name Generators
Of course, maybe coming up with your own username from scratch isn’t really in your bag of tricks. That’s okay! It doesn’t make you any less creative, and fortunately, there are some solid resources online to help you find the best username for you.
One of the best name generators that I’ve happened upon is hosted on Spinxo, which provides name generators in a similar vein for Instagram and other social media platforms. All you have to do is fill in some of the listed criteria (nickname, personality, hobby, things you like, important words, numbers) and the name generator will kick out a slew of possible choices based on the information that you’ve given. Some of them are going to be fairly ridiculous, and I would not recommend using a name generator if you need an username for professional Skype use, but it’s a great start, even if you just use it for brainstorming!
We’ve all been at the same impasse, and choosing an username for social media and messaging apps is never easy, unless you have a single one that you’ve been using for years (lucky you, if so!) That said, I hope that the above guide, questions, and criteria will help to point you in the right direction as you make your selection. With a little bit of thought, you can generate a list of name ideas that will, ideally, lead you to the best Skype username that suits the purpose you intend to use it for. As always, if you have any questions or thoughts, leave them in the comments below, and don’t hesitate to share this article on Facebook and Twitter!
