We’ve all had it happen:
“This username is already in use. Please try again.”
People have taken our vanity URLs, our names and our SEO. We’ve gotten into wars over Twitter handles, over names on Google+ and gotten to new social networks just a moment too late. At Mashable, we like to refer to these people as “Digital Doppelgangers.”
Here are some of our stories.
Christina Warren
Christina Warren has more than 22,500 followers on Twitter but still can’t properly search for herself by name on the site. Why? Our resident @film_girl became an almost real-life movie star when a second Christina Warren became prominent on the web: the lead character of the movie Source Code. Now, whenever she searches for herself, she tends to get movie references.
Charlie White
Charlie White doesn’t own CharlieWhite.com. A photographer does — or at least he did. There’s also an ice dancer — and Olympic silver medalist — by the name of Charlie White, as well as a politician in Indiana and a legendary fishing guru who had a fishing show on television before his death last year. All this name overcrowding means a severe SEO issue.
Meghan Peters
This isn’t only a story about Meghan, but one about her sister Meredith as well. There are not only one but two Meredith Peters who live in Brooklyn who have sisters named Meghan. Meredith, a nurse, was actually contacted by her doppelganger on Facebook. She was just saying hello!
Adam Ostrow & Robyn Peterson.
These photos say it all:
Poor Other Robyn and Other Adam.
Sidenote: Other Adam got it wrong. Adam Ostrow is Mashable’s editor in chief, not founder. That’s Pete Cashmore’s title.
Do you have a Digital Doppelganger?
Have you ever contacted someone with your name? Do you specially code your website somehow to have better SEO then theirs does? Have you tried to buy a handle or URL off of someone who wouldn’t give? We’ve tried all of these things — but we want to hear your story, too.
Tell us in the comments below!
For more Social Media coverage:Follow Mashable Social Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Social Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:31:19 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/xEH-Bl4SCP0/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/09/02/digital-doppelgangers/#comments
“This username is already in use. Please try again.”
People have taken our vanity URLs, our names and our SEO. We’ve gotten into wars over Twitter handles, over names on Google+ and gotten to new social networks just a moment too late. At Mashable, we like to refer to these people as “Digital Doppelgangers.”
Here are some of our stories.
Christina Warren
Christina Warren has more than 22,500 followers on Twitter but still can’t properly search for herself by name on the site. Why? Our resident @film_girl became an almost real-life movie star when a second Christina Warren became prominent on the web: the lead character of the movie Source Code. Now, whenever she searches for herself, she tends to get movie references.
Charlie White
Charlie White doesn’t own CharlieWhite.com. A photographer does — or at least he did. There’s also an ice dancer — and Olympic silver medalist — by the name of Charlie White, as well as a politician in Indiana and a legendary fishing guru who had a fishing show on television before his death last year. All this name overcrowding means a severe SEO issue.
Meghan Peters
This isn’t only a story about Meghan, but one about her sister Meredith as well. There are not only one but two Meredith Peters who live in Brooklyn who have sisters named Meghan. Meredith, a nurse, was actually contacted by her doppelganger on Facebook. She was just saying hello!
Adam Ostrow & Robyn Peterson.
These photos say it all:
Poor Other Robyn and Other Adam.
Sidenote: Other Adam got it wrong. Adam Ostrow is Mashable’s editor in chief, not founder. That’s Pete Cashmore’s title.
Do you have a Digital Doppelganger?
Have you ever contacted someone with your name? Do you specially code your website somehow to have better SEO then theirs does? Have you tried to buy a handle or URL off of someone who wouldn’t give? We’ve tried all of these things — but we want to hear your story, too.
Tell us in the comments below!
For more Social Media coverage:Follow Mashable Social Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Social Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:31:19 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/xEH-Bl4SCP0/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/09/02/digital-doppelgangers/#comments