Page 1 of 1 [ 10 posts ] 

Girlwithaspergers
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Dec 2012
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,320
Location: USA

19 Mar 2015, 12:02 pm

I tend to get rather obsessed with changing my usernames on social media and other websites. In the past, I have done it so much that I've deleted accounts because of it. It's like I just am okay with a username that I have but then I think of a new one and if it's available, I end up switching to it until the process repeats. Does anybody know of a way to discipline myself in this regard?



Hyperborean
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Jan 2015
Gender: Male
Posts: 956
Location: Europe

19 Mar 2015, 12:14 pm

Short of cutting off your access to the internet, no. A lot of people do this, I think it's a way of searching for an identity - although that's probably an over-simplification of a more complex issue. As you get older and come to know yourself better, you may find you do it less or hardly at all. The only practical disadvantage I can think of is that you may lose contact with people who knew you under another name, although obviously you can tell them. There's an advantage, too: if someone is being unpleasant to you online, changing username can effectively throw them off your trail.



Fibbox
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 3 Aug 2014
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Posts: 189

23 Mar 2015, 5:31 pm

I do it on Steam depending on what game I am currently playing, for example if I am playing Fallout i'll be named "First, Worst Hope of Humanity". I tend to be indecisive about what to choose sometimes, but when I find one I like I tend to stick with it for a month or two.



K_Kelly
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Apr 2014
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,452

23 Mar 2015, 5:42 pm

Wow I used to be obsessed with closing and restarting a new Facebook account.



michael517
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Nov 2013
Age: 63
Gender: Female
Posts: 535
Location: Illinois

24 Mar 2015, 8:31 pm

Obsess over changing your passwords instead, you are supposed to do that anyways.

I use LastPass to manage my accounts and passwords, and I use their 'maximum entropy' password generator, which is a five dollar word for really hard to guess.

Some time back on the Ars Technica website there was an article on password cracking, a real eye opener, some of the recommendations to prevent being compromised were
- long passwords
- max entropy
- change often
- two-factor authentication.

I started typing up about two-factor authentication, but then I realized I was falling into the Aspie trap, talking on and on about something nobody else cares about. Google it if you are interested.



slave
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 28 Feb 2012
Age: 113
Gender: Male
Posts: 4,420
Location: Dystopia Planetia

26 Mar 2015, 2:33 am

michael517 wrote:
Obsess over changing your passwords instead, you are supposed to do that anyways.

I use LastPass to manage my accounts and passwords, and I use their 'maximum entropy' password generator, which is a five dollar word for really hard to guess.

Some time back on the Ars Technica website there was an article on password cracking, a real eye opener, some of the recommendations to prevent being compromised were
- long passwords
- max entropy
- change often
- two-factor authentication.

I started typing up about two-factor authentication, but then I realized I was falling into the Aspie trap, talking on and on about something nobody else cares about. Google it if you are interested.


We probably WOULD be interested :wink:



Eurythmic
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 1 Jan 2013
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Posts: 517
Location: Australia

29 Mar 2015, 4:30 am

Stop doing it I guess.

A name or "handle" on a site is used to give you some identity, a way for others to refer to you. If you keep changing it you are on the surface making yourself more anonymous. Apart from what someone suggested as you subconsciously trying to "find yourself" changing names all of the time doesn't actually achieve much except cause confusion.



eric76
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 31 Aug 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,660
Location: In the heart of the dust bowl

07 Apr 2015, 4:52 pm

I normally use passphrases rather than passwords.

Typically they are four or five word nonsense phrases.

Some examples would be:

cajun cats consuming carnivorous canines
egregious example indicating pterodactyl diets
1812 - a very good year for overtures

The best thing about this approach is that once you learn the passphrase, once you get the first word the rest comes naturally to you, but not to anyone else. It can be quite confusing to use two different passphrases that start with the same word.

My strongest passphrases are complete nonsense sentences such as:

We went to the desert seeking fine wooden daisies, but all we found was a pool and nine tractors.



DailyPoutine1
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 14 Mar 2015
Age: 26
Posts: 2,278
Location: Province of Québec, Canada

25 Apr 2015, 1:08 pm

Once my password was "t h e r e a r e 22 s p a c e s i n t h i s p/w."



eric76
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 31 Aug 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,660
Location: In the heart of the dust bowl

25 Apr 2015, 1:37 pm

DailyPoutine1 wrote:
Once my password was "t h e r e a r e 22 s p a c e s i n t h i s p/w."


A self-referential password!

The only self-referential password/passphrase I've used was

"This is may password and I'm not going to change it."