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Tonight I decided to change my twitter handle to my name, @joel_dahlin. I have been battling with what I want to do with twitter for some time now.

When I first signed up on twitter I choose my common online username.  This was back when I was employed by someone else. I was only testing the waters of twitter then.  It was still pretty small back then and not many people even know what it was. I really didn’t think much of it.

Fast forward 2 years later. I am now working on my own as a freelance web developer. So my name really means a lot more now. I didn’t realize how important personal branding was until much later (another blog post about that later).

Originally I was thinking I would create two handles, one for business and one for personal, but I think by choosing my name it covers both and makes it much easier to maintain.

By choosing my name it is a handle everyone can recognize. My old handle was only known by my personal friends. I want something that everyone will know me by and remember me by. I’ve started to get into a few video chats with twitter followers and they really don’t know what the heck to call me.  When I go to code camps, developer conferences, etc people can now put the name to the face.  Before they would have no idea I was the person behind my old handle.

It’s a good thing twitter makes it so easy to change your username.  I made sure to create a new account with my old handle just to point people to my new handle just in case.  Remember to do this if you change your handle.

If you’re thinking of changing your twitter handle here are a few other good posts that I read thanks to @philmontero.

Why You Should Use Your Real Name On Twitter
3 keys to un-branding…and why I changed my twitter name
Should I Use My Personal Name or My Website Name on Twitter?

Now I need to get on the phone with my designer and get some new biz cards made up. Oh yeah, and update the links on my website.

UPDATE: I originally wrote this post before I actually made the switch.  When I went to do it I found out the name @joeldahlin was already taken.  Lesson learned, get your name right away.

Filed under: Business   Tags: twitter,
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