One of the cool features of the internet is that we get to choose nicknames for ourselves, the kind of nicknames we wished we were given at school. This is the reason why you find hundreds of Deathninjas, thousands of Horny69s and a scary number of GoldenUnicorns. The problem with internet nicknames is that their cool factor often lasts as long as it takes for the alcohol buzz to wear off, and that it is pretty difficult to take someone seriously and do professional business if they insist on being called Sunshine16.
My first internet username was "Twotone". I had always liked The Specials, and it was uncommon enough that I could generally grab it on whatever forum or email service I was signing up on. After a couple of years I switched to Gosatango, the name of my indie record label. I was focusing a lot on music at the time and it made sense to have that nickname as people in the know associated it with me anyway.
Over the past few years the nickname has been more of a hindrance than anything else. It feels ridiculous to hide behind a nickname on a coding forum, especially when I am asking for help or advice. I have also noticed many of my peers ditching their nicknames and using the internet to build their personal brand. Some of the South African bloggers that I respect the most, like Mike Stopforth, Dave Duarte and Vincent Maher all use their names as brands. The concept makes sense to me, so from today onwards my new nickname is JaxonRice, a simple camelcase version of my name. I am also moving my personal blog from my company site to this blog at JaxonRice.com. I am still going to use my Souplog to post about stuff that my company is involved with, but this blog will be my collection point for my other thoughts and philosophies.
Its pretty strange how we wish for cool superhero type names when we are growing up and then one day our own name becomes good enough and there is no longer a desire to hide behind another persona. Does this mean I am finally growing up? My mom would be so proud...