Do nicks or handles matter?

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Do nicks or handles matter?

Geeez... i didn't mean to get people all self-conscious about their nicks online, heh. I was just making a comment last night while slightly over-relaxed and saw the opportunity for a joke about the irony another's post. If someone with a nick that looks like an AOL Screen Name is asking about a making "career" out of being a hacker, it's going to bring up some of those same feelings and initial impressions that Thorn talked about.

We're not saying that the occasional number/letter substitution is always going to turn people off, but it is just one small part of an overall first impression. Look at someone like Converge. There are times when his name can be seen with a zero and sometimes in plain English. It's tastefully done and more than that, we all know him and are more than aware that he's not a script kiddie.

But consider someone like David Hulton from the Seattle scene. Here's a person core to ToorCon whom everyone respects and loves... but i'll bet that the few folk out there who don't know who "h1kar1" is might get the wrong idea the first time they see his nick. I can recall one time when a person next to me was looking at a DefCon program or something and i heard them comment, "Well... maybe we'll get some food after this talk. The next presentation is by some kids named h1kar1 and ge0 who think they're phreakers." (or something similar) I patiently explained to the guy that these were some of the most knowledgeable people in that field and that he'd do well to stick around... but those sort of mix-ups are rare, i suspect.

Most of the people whom I know with an abundance of leeto-burrito characters in their nick are, in truth, very very young and often inexperienced. They may have plenty of potential but, again... as Thorn pointed out, this is often just taken as a sign that they are new and still finding themself.

So... I don't know if that answers your question or not. I think that, in short, nicks matter about as much as skin-color, sex, age, etc... it's always going to be a part of how other people sub-consciously form an initial opinion of a person, but well-rounded and secure people are fine with totally not giving a shit about all that and standing on their own two feet. That's always worked for me.

I have learned from all this, I must admit... because now i'll step back and leave the snarky side comments to someone with more experience, like HighWizard

[0x58]

Re: Do nicks or handles matter?

Yeah I get what yall are saying but my nick shouldnted imply that am a "leet" hacker. I also have seen people initial think I was 13 upon entering chat rooms. I see no reason to judge someone over a nick til u get to know them. My old handle use to be disablmalfunc does that apply to me being a sabotager, I dont think so. Ha yeah I saw that movie hackers once upon a time and its a funny movie and not even close to the real scene. I guess everyone has different opinions ive seen worse handles then mine but I dont bash that person cause I know how it felt. Unless I see they have no knowledge what so ever. You can usually point out the little kids after talking to them. Not to be fooled by skiddes that sit there and read up on things but not actually studying the structure of how things work. So I can see where you come from when u say nicks matter. But how many of you actually take the time to see what that person with a foolish nick actually knows?

s/shouldnted/shouldn't/
s/ u / you /g

til: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...il&btnG=Search

s/til/till/
s/skiddies/script kiddies/


I believe there is more, but I am all regex'ed out. Come on, if you want people to take you serious with a nickname such as yours at least make sure your posts contain the correct grammar and punctuation, and most importantly spelling! The way you carry a conversation and post here goes far in terms of the way people view and look upon you.

I kept skipping this thread over the list of new threads mainly because it was started by someone with leetspeak in their name. After reading through the thread I don't understand why you started the thread, other than to gain some attention.

[disablmalfunc]

Re: Do nicks or handles matter?

I dont speak "leet", just cause my may imply that. I started this thread just to see what people think when they see handles. It was not intended to draw attention to myself and it does not bother me if you using me as an example.

[streaker69]

Re: Do nicks or handles matter?

Maybe I have over looked something on my grammatical errors and yet to realize them. Also, it was past tense when I use to defend my name. I have not had to defend it in quite sometime now. Other communities have embrace me because they notice I was not there to prove myself and the same goes here I am not here to prove myself. Only to learn and share the knowledge I have gain from my experiences. I only started the thread to see what people think. I have been around the scene from quite sometime now, but I am only new to this community.

If you feel there is no need to defend your nick, then why did you start an entire thread about it, all you did was draw attention to yourself. Otherwise, most people probably wouldn't have noticed or cared, aside from the occasional comment.

I do agree with Thorn and ThePrez though, l33tsp34k is just silly, and it serves no porpoise.

[disablmalfunc]

Re: Do nicks or handles matter?

Maybe I have over looked something on my grammatical errors and yet to realize them. Also, it was past tense when I use to defend my name. I have not had to defend it in quite sometime now. Other communities have embrace me because they notice I was not there to prove myself and the same goes here I am not here to prove myself. Only to learn and share the knowledge I have gain from my experiences. I only started the thread to see what people think. I have been around the scene from quite sometime now, but I am only new to this community.

[theprez98]

Re: Do nicks or handles matter?

But how many of you actually take the time to see what that person with a foolish nick actually knows?

Why put yourself at an immediate disadvantage by picking an admitedly "foolish" nick that requires you to constantly defend yourself?

[Thorn]

Re: Do nicks or handles matter?

So I can see where you come from when u say nicks matter. But how many of you actually take the time to see what that person with a foolish nick actually knows?

As I stated: "That initial impression may be improved upon as time goes on, assuming that the person is capable of articulating coherent posts."

Based on your grammar and spelling thus far, my initial impression isn't improving yet. You might want to read this, as it is part of the Rules that you agreed to abide by.

[theprez98]

Re: Do nicks or handles matter?

Do people really judge each other off just their nicks.

Not just their nicks, but that certainly plays a role, especially in certain cases.

Do people really judge each other off just their nicks. What ever happened to the saying "Dont judge a book by its cover"?

The way you conduct yourself over the Internet is your "cover". How you conduct yourself in person is your "book". Without meeting you, or at least knowing you for a period of time, what else are people to judge you on?

I've had to always defend my nick against ignorant people and yet my nick doesn't imply anything after it,

The alarm bells should be going off in your head. If this is something you "always" had to do, then it should be obvious that people do in fact judge you based upon your name.

Nicks like your's (since you're asking) come across to me as a bad initial impression. Personally, I cringe whenever I see handles that have any 'leet-speak" number-letter substitution, and assume that they a kid who just learned about the Internet and decided he's going to prove to the world he's a hax0r dood. Basically, such names come across to me as the type that a 13 year-old boy comes up with after learning about "leet-speak" and watching the movie "Hackers". The more substitutions, the lower my initial impression. That initial impression may be improved upon as time goes on, assuming that the person is capable of articulating coherent posts. However, much of the time, it declines.

Couldn't have said it better myself; although I've always thought "7h0rn" was better... ;)

[disablmalfunc]

Re: Do nicks or handles matter?

Yeah I get what yall are saying but my nick shouldnted imply that am a "leet" hacker. I also have seen people initial think I was 13 upon entering chat rooms. I see no reason to judge someone over a nick til u get to know them. My old handle use to be disablmalfunc does that apply to me being a sabotager, I dont think so. Ha yeah I saw that movie hackers once upon a time and its a funny movie and not even close to the real scene. I guess everyone has different opinions ive seen worse handles then mine but I dont bash that person cause I know how it felt. Unless I see they have no knowledge what so ever. You can usually point out the little kids after talking to them. Not to be fooled by skiddes that sit there and read up on things but not actually studying the structure of how things work. So I can see where you come from when u say nicks matter. But how many of you actually take the time to see what that person with a foolish nick actually knows?

[xor]

Re: Do nicks or handles matter?

All nicks are both incredibly clever and incredibly stupid IMHO. I believe in keeping it readable and simple, this way I and others have less to type.

xor

[Thorn]

Re: Do nicks or handles matter?

Do people really judge each other off just their nicks. What ever happened to the saying "Dont judge a book by its cover"? That should apply for handles as well. I've had to always defend my
nick against ignorant people and yet my nick doesn't imply anything after it, if you know what im talking about. After people get to know me they dont even care about the nick. I ve had this handle for quite sometime now as well. So I guess the questions here are Do nicks really matter? :-) doesn't mean im changing mine either been through to much to change it now ^_^

Yes, nicks matter, at least to some extent, and yes, people do judge by them. They are the initial way that you represent yourself to the world via fora. The secondary way, is off course, is through your spelling and grammar.

Nicks like your's (since you're asking) come across to me as a bad initial impression. Personally, I cringe whenever I see handles that have any 'leet-speak" number-letter substitution, and assume that they a kid who just learned about the Internet and decided he's going to prove to the world he's a hax0r dood. Basically, such names come across to me as the type that a 13 year-old boy comes up with after learning about "leet-speak" and watching the movie "Hackers". The more substitutions, the lower my initial impression. That initial impression may be improved upon as time goes on, assuming that the person is capable of articulating coherent posts. However, much of the time, it declines.

This is based on a fairly long history of reading and partaking in newsgroups, mail lists and fora.

[disablmalfunc]

Do people really judge each other off just their nicks. What ever happened to the saying "Dont judge a book by its cover"? That should apply for handles as well. I've had to always defend my
nick against ignorant people and yet my nick doesn't imply anything after it, if you know what im talking about. After people get to know me they dont even care about the nick. I ve had this handle for quite sometime now as well. So I guess the questions here are Do nicks really matter? :-) doesn't mean im changing mine either been through to much to change it now ^_^