Usernames that Pull You In/Turn You Off

[ErosWired]

Are there usernames that make you want to definitely check out a profile, or ones that are an instant Nope? Some apps keep the UN rigid, but others, like Grindr, let you change your display name on a whim, or for effect.

 I chose ErosWired a long time ago, as a representation of the sexual aspect of my personality (eros) in the electronic realm (wired). It says what I meant it to say, but in hindsight it’s not very useful in telling anyone about what I’m looking for or what I offer.

 I like creative, clever usernames - they always make me want to read the profile. The other day I chanced across a guy under the handle ‘You’veFuckedWorse’. I had to ask him whether that was actually a counterintuitively effective strategy. He said it got him a lot of conversations, but as always things fell apart actually trying to get something set up. I felt his pain.

Clearly, some guys spend zero time trying to be creative - btmhole4u45235 (not an actual UN as far as I know, but there could easily be 45,234 of these out there). To my mind, this bottom has done himself no favor; he’s announced that he’s a bottom, but at the same time made himself appear about as unremarkable a bottom as possible, and given the teeming mass of bottoms angling for limited cock, that’s a sure way of not getting any.

’Probably Not’ - I actually saw this recently. Why do this on a hookup site?

’Bored’ - Self-explanatory.

Then you have the plain-announcement types:

👀4🍆 - (Who knew eggplant was in such demand?)

’Hosting’ - Hosting who, for what? I, on the other hand, will sometimes switch my Grindr handle to ‘HostingTopsNOW’, but given my recent abysmal luck with Grindr, I don’t know if that’s any more effective.

Simple straightforward demands:

’CumBloMe’

’HMU’

’UseMe’

And a kaleidoscope of descriptions of what they ‘need’:

‘NeedHeadNow’

’DaddyNeedsFresh🍆’ (There’s a grocery down the street, man)

’btmNeeds_____[fill in the blank]

... like anybody cares what they need. Guys are on there looking to meet their own needs. So as a sales pitch, this seems weak to me.

But maybe I’ve got it wrong. I look at a username on a hookup site as a sales pitch, the first shot fired in a marketing strategy to recruit fucks. I think a username is the first, and sometimes the only, chance you have to tell the viewer something about yourself and your intentions beyond what they can glean from your profile pic.

Lately I’ve begun trying something different on Grindr - once I take a load, I change my username to ‘OneLoadIn’. After the next, ‘TwoLoadsIn’. Then ‘ThreeLoadsIn’ and so on. I do this because so many Tops say they’re looking for a pre-loaded hole, but it has also been suggested to me that I’m hurting my chances by making myself seem like a whore.

What do you think? What’s the most effective use of the username? Are there choices guys should steer clear of? Red flags that say ‘stay away’? Or ones you can’t resist clicking on? 

[hntnhole]

I'd say that somethng eyecatching, but also descriptive of what you're interested in.  I've had mine (several sites) for so many years, one of our fellow BZ'ers recognized it from ReCon years ago, got in touch, and we had a good time catching up.  

You're entirely correct though - at least alluding to what your specific interests are will prove more productive than trying to accommodate every possible Cock, and thus not being clear about what you actually do need.  Some guys can't resist the blandness, or try to be too cute, and that's a shame.  I think guys should just be clear about what particular act of Lust they need, and if it doesn't work, come up with another, better crafted SN.  btw - yours is clear, intriguing, and once a guy gets to the profile, very clear indeed.

[phukhole]

what attracts me first are the top names, next are leather/rubber names, then Daddy names, then location names, then fun/quirky/unusual names.  Once they have my attention, there has to be something there though.  I'll let just about anyone fuck me, but if we're gonna chat and converse, you have to engage me and keep me engaged.  If I reach out to you, I A. find your screen name appealing and B. have probably read your responses to other posts and think we'd get along.  I'm not always right, but that's what I go by.

[FelchingPisser]

Mine has worked very well for me--being a combination of two of my favorite fetishes.  And it tells folks they aren't likely to get a vanilla fuck.

I am not even sure what I look for.  I don't think top or bottom has to be in the screen name for me-- that will be self evident in the profile  (and the fact I see most of the world as a potential bottom anyway.)  I do like, in no particular order, clever names, literary names, things that tell me of a kink.  

[verslut]

I don't care much about usernames on this site. I'll look at a guy's profile if his posts pique my interest.

As for hookup apps, usernames relating to my sexual interests grab my attention. Otherwise I don't care.

[Menbendovr]

I understand your point ErosWired.  A good user name is a way to hook someone or at least make them pause and think who this person is.  It gets the interest level piqued.  It is a marketing strategy.  I never thought of it that way before, but you are on to something there.

I will say that for me that is not the only thing important here nor the most important thing.  I tend to still click on many user names to see what other info has been provided by their profile such as likes and interests and photos.  Photos are huge of course since we are primarily cued into others visually.  But what ends up making or breaking a hookup is the dialogue you eventually have with someone.  Nothing like a turnoff for me than one word answers to a question or a pause that seems an eternity before a response is given.

Anyway, I'm interested in hearing from you what you think are examples of good user names or why they are by being specific.  You listed several why you thought they were bad or ineffectual.

[Guest]

I'm more interested in a current profile picture, location and position than username. Also helps to have a gallery with pictures of yourself, not pictures of people you've had sex with, or want to have sex with that you found on the internet, or pictures of activities your into. It's your profile, make it about you.

[ErosWired]

3 hours ago, Menbendovr said:

Anyway, I'm interested in hearing from you what you think are examples of good user names or why they are by being specific. 

I imagine I’m a little unlike the average guy in that I’m reeled in largely by things that have little to do with sex - if a username shows wit, or humor, or a literary allusion, or imparts an air of mystery, I’ll spend some time on that. The one I mentioned above, You’veFuckedWorse, struck me as clever and the result of some thought, which is key for me - I’m attracted to brains.

Just glancing at the apps now, I see one going as ‘MethodicMadness’ - he sounds interesting. ‘NeedsBred!’ - not so much. But I don’t actually go shopping on the apps myself anyway. I just use them basically as a bulletin board to let men know where I am with my ass up, and let whoever wants it come get it. So who I find interesting really isn’t as important a question for what I do as whether I manage to interest them.

[hntnhole]

Given my business-life, I know that a good "hook" in an ad is crucial to a successful ad campaign.  For a bottom, words like "dedicated", "committed", "enthusiastic"," purposeful", "single-minded", and in your case, "faithful" could be honestly employed.  Clearly, contractions would be needed for a SN, but you only need to pique the interest of a man, and thus get him to read the profile too.  The SN is only a hook to get them to read the profile, and yours is magnificent (at least, for a man like me).  Obviously. there are tons of worthy Cocks out there that couldn't care less about some of the finer points of exactly why you offer your Hole up to Cock, but once they read the profile, the value of Breeding in not only your Hole but your mind/psyche/soul as well, the Lust for the "complete" you becomes far more compelling.

Alliteration happens to be one of my favorite compositional devises, but there has to be something of substance behind the SN.  "MethodicMadness" doesn't refer to much, and can be interpreted in a number of different ways - and therefore easily skipped over.  A Breeder that needs Hole probably won't feel like prodding the guy to find out more - he'll just go on to the next one.  I would ....  "NeedsBred" is hardly imaginative, and I hope that guy figures out that he's not saying anything special with his SN.

Speaking only for myself here - I don't really care for dullards - unless they're busy being dull in a room-full of Lust-driven men Breeding each other's Holes.  In that kind of scene, who cares - the dullard's throat is full of Cock anyway, and I won't have to listen to him.

It's all about Cock/Hole/Sperm

[Menbendovr]

3 hours ago, ErosWired said:

 

Just glancing at the apps now, I see one going as ‘MethodicMadness’ - he sounds interesting. ‘NeedsBred!’ - not so much. 

Between your latest comment and the one followed up by hntnhole were taking me to my ultimate point which I did not get to in my earlier post.  Screen names are simply to subjective to satisfy any one common understanding.  You like SN "MethodicMadness" and hntnhole does not.  You each have your reasons but will never come to agreement on what makes a good SN or not.  Kind of no point in judging SNs to that degree.  

[valldelxeno]

I don't think I honestly evaluate the usernames that much. But I disagree on the aubergine: sometimes a functional emoji allows you to pack more meaning into an often character limited username. A biohazard emoji definitely has me interested immediately 

[ErosWired]

9 hours ago, valldelxeno said:

But I disagree on the aubergine: sometimes a functional emoji allows you to pack more meaning into an often character limited username. A biohazard emoji definitely has me interested immediately 

I wasn’t actually criticizing the use of eggplants - you’re right that a strategically used emoji can deliver a lot more information in a single character. This can be chancy, though, because if all of the things the image signifies don’t support your intent, they can potentially undermine it. I get what’s meant by the eggplant, for instance, but can’t help a feeling that it’s also slightly ridiculous.

If, instead of 👀4🍆 the person chose 👀4🐓, what would be the general sense? It would still probably be understood that he was looking for cock, but there might be a subconscious sense that he was interested in chickens. Even seeing 👀 leaves me feeling vaguely like I might be getting fucked by a cartoon character.

Bear in mind, though, that linguistics and writing systems are one of my favorite subjects of study, and I almost certainly think about this stuff way too much.