How To Set Up A Kik Profile?

Nobody can doubt that Kik is one of the best and most fun to use instant messaging apps around. Whether you are looking to chat with your existing friends or meeting new people and making new friends, the Kik Messenger app would be ideal for you. We have written extensively on how to best use the instant messaging app for example as a tool to make friends. That is all well and good, by how to do get started? The first thing you would need to do after downloading and installing the Kik Messenger app would be to create your own profile.

In this article we will explain not only what you would need to do in order to go about creating a profile on the Kik Messenger app, but we will also give you lots of useful tips on how to actually create a successful Kik Messenger profile that would allow you to make the most of using the instant messaging app.

Of course the best thing to do before you would be able to create your Kik Messenger profile is to download and install the Kik Messenger app into your mobile device. If you have never done this before we will now briefly explain how you would do this from both an iOS device (iPhone and iPod Touch) or an Android mobile device. If you have either already done this or know exactly what to do, you might as well skip over the next paragraph and go straight to the next section of this article.

If you have an iOS device, all you will have to do is head over to the Apple App store in your mobile device and search for “Kik Messenger”. If, however, you use an Android device, then you will have to head over to the Google Play app store instead and search for “Kik Messenger”. Once you have found the Kik Messenger app in the relevant app store, simply click or tap on the “download” button and wait for it to be fully installed in your device.

Okay, so now that we have explained how you download the Kik Messenger app, let’s go into how you would set up a personal profile.

Why Create A Kik Profile?

“We are all now connected by the Internet, like neurons in a giant brain.”- Stephen Hawking

The question “how to create a Kik profile?” is a deceptively simple one. Of course, you must create a Kik profile first if you intend to ever use the Kik Messenger app. But the reasons go beyond that. A Kik profile is how you will communicate who you are to all the other Kik Messenger users, and particularly to those of you who are already your friends or those who may be interested in becoming so through Kik Messenger.

So, what is a Kik profile? At its most basic level, a Kik Messenger profile is your user name and your display name. This answer may not be too helpful on its own because it may just lead to yet another question. Why would I need two different names? Or even, why would I need to different names to use the Kik Messenger app?

Okay, so at this point we should probably talk a little bit about privacy. One of the things that sets the Kik Messenger app apart from some of the other instant messaging platforms around is the privacy it guarantees its users. You see, other similar platforms require their users to display their real names or even, as is the case with the hugely popular app WhatsApp, require them not only to provide their telephone number but also to share it with other users in order to be able to chat with them.

The Kik Messenger app, however, is different because all it requires their users to share with one another is a unique user name of their choice. Your user name is what identifies you to other members. If someone wants to find you on Kik Messenger, they will have to know you user name and search for it. Your display name is what would then be shown on the screen of anyone chatting to you. There is, of course, no reason why your user name and your display name could not be exactly the same. As there is also no reason why they should be something completely different. This is all up to you. The only issue here is while your display name could be absolutely anything you choose, your user name has to be unique to you, so you would be limited, so to speak, to user names no one has picked out yet.

The great thing about all of this is that you can protect your privacy and real identity behind any name you choose. If you want your existing friends to find you on the Kik Messenger app, you would have three different options:

• You could simply let them know your full user name so they can type it in in the search box. Just be sure to spell it out correctly or else your friends may end up chatting with someone else with a user name similar (but obviously not identical) to yours.
• You could instead share your Kik code with your friends so they can scan it with their mobile devices and that way add you to their chats lists.
• Finally, if you turn on the “address book matching” feature in your settings, any of your contacts who also uses the Kik Messenger app and has the same feature turned on as well, would be automatically added to your chat lists (also you would be automatically added to theirs).

Now that we have gone all the theory involved in a Kik Messenger profile, we can go through all the practical steps that are involved in actually creating one. We will do that in the next section of this article. Of course, if once you have created your profile you feel you need to be reminded of some of the theory, you can read again this section.

How Do You Create a Kik Profile?

Once you have downloaded and installed the Kik Messenger app as we explained in the introduction to this article, you will need to follow these simple steps in order to set up your Kik profile. This operation should not take you more than a few minutes at most.

1. Grab the smart phone or mobile device where you have downloaded and installed the Kik Messenger app.
2. Locate the Kik Messenger app and launch it by tapping on it.
3. Tap on the “sign up” icon on your screen.
4. Entered your preferred user name. Remember that this user name must be unique to you so choose something either extremely original or extremely random. You user name should not give out any clues as to your real identity for your privacy and security. You may not be able to choose the first thing that you come up for as your user name. If that is the case keep trying with slight variations on your original idea or totally different user names.
5. Once you have chosen a user name that nobody else is using, choose your display name. Your display name is made up of a first and last name. You can use your real name or come up with something. Remember that your display name will be shown on the screen of anybody chatting to you, so consider if you could have any issues with this. Also, you would be able to change your display name as many times as necessary even after you set up your profile. There is no limit on how many times you change it.
6. Now that you have chosen the all important user and display names, you would have to enter your email address. Make sure that you enter an email address that is valid and that you have (and will continue to have access to). This is really important because you will not be able to activate your Kik account until you have activated the email that you would receive from Kik Messenger after setting up your profile). Once you have successfully created your account, you would be able to change your email address if necessary. If you ever change your email address you should immediately update your Kik settings. This would prevent any potential future problems accessing your account.
7. The last piece of personal information you need to enter would be your date of birth. If you were under 13 years of age your profile would be rejected; if you are between the ages of 13 and 18 you will be asked for parental permission (or permission from a legal guardian) in order to set up your profile. If you are 18 years old or older, you will be able to complete the signing up process.
8. Once you have entered all the required personal information, you will be asked to pass a CAPTCH test. This is done so that your identity as a human being can be verified also in order to prevent spam bots from joining the app and bug real users like you.

You would also have the option to enter a profile picture. You can use any picture that you like.

Just to clarify the only information other Kik Messenger users will see would be your display and user names, and your profile picture. Your age and email address will not be divulged as they are merely used to confirm your identity and set up your account.

If you have any questions about setting up a Kik Messenger account, leave us a message in the comments section below!