Choosing a good name for the Kik Messenger app is not as easy as it may seem at first sight. There are a few considerations that would make this task into something a little bit more complicated that it might initially appear. To begin with, there are two kinds different names Kik Messenger users are asked to come up with when they first register on the instant messaging app: a user name and a display name. Many people do not even realize that those two names serve very different functions. In this article, we will not only explain the differences between user names and display names but we will also give you some advice on how to choose the right names for Kik Messenger.
Both the user name and the display name you choose for Kik Messenger will be important. Having said that the user name is a bit more complex, so let’s start by discussing it and giving you some good advice on how to come up with a good user name.
Kik User Names
Kik user names are extremely important for several reasons so a good way to begin a section on Kik user names would be to talk about why precisely they are so important.
1. Firstly, your Kik user name is the primary way in which other Kik users will be able to find you. There are other ways, of course, such as Kik codes and the “book address matching” feature but even if you use any of those features, your user name would still be the one thing that would identify you to other Kik users. When we talk about identification what we really mean is that your user name says as much or as little about as you choose. And whether it tells a lot or a little about you, it is the only thing everyone else would have to go by, at least, until they chat to you.
2. Another thing that makes user names so important is that they are unique. The Kik Messenger app does not allow two users to have the same user name. So, nobody else would ever be able to use the same user name as you. They could, however, choose a user name that would be incredibly close to yours. Just changing a character (or adding or subtracting anything to a user name) would make it into a fresh new one in the eyes of the Kik Messenger app.
When you first sign up to the Kik Messenger app you are asked to come up with your own Kik user name. Until you have come up with a truly unique user name (i.e., one that no one else has already picked) you will not be able to proceed with your registration and start enjoying all the benefits of using the Kik Messenger app.
With millions of existing users and new ones signing up everyday from around the world, coming up with a unique user name can seem to turn into an almost impossible task.
Our advice here is to try to be original when coming up with your Kik user name. How do you achieve that? Well, there are a few ways but basically you could go one of two ways: you could either choose something totally random (lots of different characters that together have no meaning at all), or you could choose something so specific that nobody else could have thought about it. If you decide to go down the second route but even if think that you have chosen something that would deem very specific only to find out that it has already been taken, all you would need to do is to change one or more characters (or just add one extra character to your chosen user name) as this normally does the trick.
Something extremely important when choosing a user name is trying to choose something that will not identify you to strangers. What we mean by that is that you should always try and avoid having a user name that would give out any clues as to your identity. Always avoid using your real name (or even a part of it), or any other piece of information that would reveal anything about your identity. So, for instance, avoid using the name of your town or school as part of your user name. Your user name should say nothing about who you are or where you live.
3. Finally, we would suggest about how other people (potentially strangers) may react to your Kik user name. It may be tempting to choose something that would be memorable but you want to be careful that you do not choose something that people may consider offensive. It is important that potential Kik friends do not get the wrong impression of you off the bat. Remember that, until they are able to chat with you for a while, all they have to go by will be your user name. The Kik Messenger app will let you actually choose any user name that you wish with no restrictions as long as nobody else has already picked it before. Just be careful and choose well.
Before we move on to the Kik display names, there is something else that we should say about user names. It is important to bear in mind that it is not possible to change your user name once you have created it. So you should take extra care when signing up to the Kik Messenger app. If you become unhappy with your choice of user name, then you will need to deactivate your account and start all over again. This is a less than ideal solution because in the process of deactivating your account you will lose all your contacts and all the chat messages that you had.
Display names, however, are different and much less important because you can change them as often as you wish.
Display Names
Having said all of the above, Display names are still important. A display name is what will be shown on the screen of everyone you chat with on Kik. It will never show on the screen when people search for you so it is useless for people who do not have you already on there chat lists. Only your friends, for the people to chat with, Will ever see your display name.
Unlike your user name, your display name could be absolutely anything you would wanted to be. Your username does not need to be unique. There can be, and indeed are, many different users who have exactly the same display names. This is not an issue. Also, as we said in the previous section, display names can be changed as often as deemed necessary. You can change them every five minutes, if you so wish.
Because of the flexibility that display names afford users, you are free to choose anything you like including your real name or any nickname of your choice. Do be careful, however, because again you do not want to reveal anything about your true identity. Remember that even though only people that you are chatting with will see your display name anybody could start chatting with you at any time and see your display name. Having said that, for most people using their first names as their display names is not a problem. If your real name is, say, John you will probably be okay to use it as your Display name because it is an extremely common name that will not mean much to anybody, anyway.
If you wish to change your display name, the good news is that process involved in doing so could not be any easier. Just carry out the following steps:
- Grab your smart phone (iPhone, Android, or any other you use for Kik).
- Head over to the Kik Messenger app.
- Launch Kik Messenger and go to the settings section.
- Choose the account.
- Top on name.
- Type in your new display name when prompted to do so.
- Top on the OK icon.
Once you have followed those simple steps your display name will have been changed. You can follow this process as often as you wish.
Certainly, changing your display name is a lot more straightforward than having to delete your whole account. Other users will be able to continue to find you in chat to you in the same way regardless of how often you change your display. All they would ever notice would be a new name their screen next time they chat to you.
If you can see, there are some key distinctions between different kinds of Kik Messenger names. We hope you have found this article useful not only in terms dissecting the differences between user names and display names but also in terms of having the right kind of information in order to enable you to create the right names for your account.
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