WEB101: What's In A Name

This should have been up earlier, primarily in the first week. Better late then no actual post at all. Now onto the important reflections and what I have learned in this introductory module and what is indeed in a name.

For many months previously to starting this unit I had a fascination with usernames (friends even commented on how strange it was, because it can be hard to see why on a surface level such a great interest in them would seem absurd). The reason behind such a large interest is primarily based on how usernames identify people. How someone (for example) with a username of omglolele may not be associated with a politician or sexybooboo for a religious figure. The use of usernames and why people choose them is also a contributing factor to understanding why it can be important to have a name that reflects the user, how anonymous or identifiable they want to be and how they can interact with other people.

Websites such as twitted implemented verfied accounts that confirm the identiy of known people that may have been otherwise confused with individuals pretending to be that person, and attempts to close any potential identity theft problems (at least for celebrities). The question I find myself asking is will this become an option for everyone person, to avoid our own identity being confused, or should this simply be for the celebrity? The complicated issue would reside in the fact that if every single user attempted to be verified we would have to be sharing more private information with the network in an attempt to prove our identity and can this be trusted? It may stop the use of spam accounts, impersonators, however I am still undecided if the concept would be appropriate or not.

Why are usernames created and used?
I can only speculate on the reasons why accounts may be created over the vast networks. They may be created to: interact with other people, to provide status updates with the associated network, to hold a username without updating, to impersonate another person or to have access to the content that another person provides.

And finally I would like to make a quick reference to creating media. Before stepping into the unit WEB101, I would consider my ideas on creating media fairy closed. I created media daily and some I would recognize while other forms I would not (such as email, forum posts, status updates and similar). It has made me think about in greater detail about what I am uploading/putting out into the virtual world.