Over the years, I’ve been known as LovesLifeDC, SassyScotchLover, SmartNSassy, and SassClassWhisky.  No, these aren’t nicknames I got from friends in college or at my first job.  These were all of my usernames on the dating site OkCupid.

Am I sharing this to show you how to craft a successful username?  I wish that were the case.  Sadly, I’m sharing this because, as of the start of 2018 (and for some people, today), OkCupid will be removing usernames for good.  So, if you’re a MusicLoverFromAK, you’ll just be known as Trisha now.  Or, if you’re a YogaPatsFan, then you’ll be called Steve from now on.  And, of course, if you’re Jenetics, as my cousin was to share her name as a pun on what she does for a living, she’ll just be Jen now, in a sea of a million other Jens.  As our beloved President (I sure hope sarcasm comes out in writing) would say in a late-night tweet—SAD!

Now, Tinder and all of the other dating apps have always just used first names, generally pulled from one’s Facebook account.  And it works for the apps.  But, OkCupid (aka OkC) was different.  OkCupid has a much longer profile, a la Match.com or eHarmony, where you can learn more about someone besides just swiping right on a picture (although OkC did introduce a swiping function on its app in order to compete).

Here’s why I contend that this is a change not for the better but for the worse:

1. Anonymity

With your real name, it’s much easier for someone to look you up on social media.  Just put together a first name and a job, and it’s a pretty easy sleuthing mission.  I believe names should be shared if and when someone chooses to share them.

2. Creativity

Someone’s username is a testament to his or her desire to be creative.  I would be much more inclined to write to a MusicLoverFromAK (since I know this person is into music and is from Alaska—pretty cool) than I would a Sam or a Pat.  A unique and clever username shows that the user has taken the time to think it through and is perhaps more invested in the dating process because of that.

3. Uniqueness

While OkC got rid of its function that allows someone to look up a profile by the person’s username, you were still able to back into it by using a link like this:

https://www.okcupid.com/profile/username

Now, with so many Bobs and Joes and Erikas (oh my!), how will a user be able to look someone up?  When I work with my clients, I need to be able to see their profiles in order to critique them.  This makes is much more difficult.

Addendum: I just checked, and even after you change your name to your first name, the link (as I shared above) still uses the person’s original username.  For example, even if I changed my name to Erika, my link would be https://www.okcupid.com/profile/iamawesome. (Don’t click on this link since I made it up… although, I do, of course, like to think I’m awesome!)

4. Honesty

Even with this new rule, all users are prompted to enter their first names themselves.  What makes OkC think that people will be honest about their name?  I have an account I use to search for clients’ potential matches (an incognito account).  I just named myself Jerry.  Is my name Jerry?  Nope.  It’s not Ben, either.

I’m not sure why OkC would penalize all of the people with smart and fun usernames for the few who game the system to write something inappropriate.  And, if someone is inclined to write something inappropriate, then that’s information that would be useful to know up front.  As in, if someone wrote “d*ick” or “sex” in his username, I’d steer clear of that profile.

I’ll finish with my rant here.  OkC, I still love you, but this decision is one ForTheBirds.  Oh wait, I can’t use that as my name.  Okay, this one is not for Erika.

Source: https://theblog.okcupid.com/an-open-letter-on-why-were-removing-usernames-addressed-to-the-worst-ones-we-ve-ever-seen-dd017c75d49a

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I had a date several years ago with someone I had met on an online dating site. He was handsome, witty, and intelligent—the trifecta in my book—so we decided to meet for brunch.  (As a side note, I generally prefer to have a cocktail or coffee with someone on a first date, but, if we’re being honest here, I couldn’t resist the bacon biscuits… don’t tell my rabbi.)

When I walked in, I found my date immediately. He looked like his photos… so far, so good! (It’s a low bar, I know.) He stood up to greet me, but when he was standing, I noticed that he and I were looking directly into each other’s eyes. I’m only 5’1, and height is actually not something that I care about when searching for a partner. But, it wasn’t his height that bothered me… it was the fact that he had lied about it.

Most people would secretly judge the guy for lying and pretend like it didn’t happen… until they tell their friends later. I’m not most people. Given that I’m the honest (blunt?) person that I am, I blurted out, “You’re not 5’7!” He replied, “Well, I’m 5’5.” The next thing out of my mouth was, “Okay, you’re not 5’5 either, but why would you lie?” It’s not like I wasn’t going to find out!

Giving him the benefit of the doubt (remember, there’s bacon involved…), I stayed to have a surprisingly nice banter with him. At one point in the conversation when we were discussing our families, I innocently asked if he had any children of his own since I knew he had been married before. Before he responded, he awkwardly looked at me and said, “I have something I have to tell you.”  That’s never a good sign. He then proceeded to tell me that, instead of the 39 years old he listed on the dating site, he was actually… wait for it… 45.  He told me this because he has a 19-year-old son, and he figured I might be suspicious.

He had lied by six years, which is not a small number, presumably to get dates with women in their early 30s, as I was at the time. Perhaps he hadn’t been caught before, or perhaps no one was as up front about her distaste for liars as I was, but he sat there with his tail between his legs while I kindly but firmly told him that he was wasting my time.

Last year, the New York Times featured a story about a lovely-looking couple in the wedding section titled “Stretching the Truth to Find Love Online.” The article commented on how the groom, 5’5, had fudged his height to 5’8 to get more profile views. While I can’t agree with it, I, of course, am not blind to his rationale. Women often make an arbitrary cut-off of anything below 5’8… or 5’10… or 6’2. For men’s sake, I wish that being tall wasn’t equated with being attractive for so many. Would I be tempted to lie if I there were something about me that I knew many men weren’t inclined to go for? I’d be, well, lying if I said no. But, that doesn’t make it right.

People lie for all different reasons: they want to date younger or older, they have an aspirational weight that they like to believe they are, they want to appear more financially successful. When it comes down to it, the main reason people lie is a lack of confidence. If you’re 100% confident in who you are, then there’s no need to lie to get the date. You may go on fewer dates being the real you, but at least you’ll know that you haven’t hidden anything. Everyone has that “thing” that holds them back or is perceived as a red flag to others: height, weight, age, religion, race, level of education, etc. I would have encouraged the groom in the article to write to anyone he wanted, even if her height minimum was taller than his stature, but to be up front about it. He was trying to come up in people’s searches, when a lot of the success in online dating actually comes from who you pursue.

Here’s the thing: People prefer to cite a one-off story like the one of this couple and use it as a precedent to condone lying—and do it themselves—rather than the hundreds of stories like mine where the lie, or lies, far outweigh the desire to see the person behind the lies. A male client who I found out was lying about his age online—subtracting five years from his age of 67—rationalized his behavior by saying, “Everyone lies.” First, that’s not true. Second, if everyone went around robbing banks, does that give you the go-ahead to rob a bank, too? I don’t need to answer that.

I’m obviously thrilled that things worked out for this couple! In the end, though, lying, especially about something that will become apparent the minute someone meets you, generally only bites you in the you-know-what. While you and your date may get along, you got the date under false pretenses, and he or she may be wondering what else you lied about. And we know most people are online stalking us anyway, so it’s best to stick to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

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