Can you help me pick a great email address?
- Thread starter Nicole
- Start date
Is there a specific topic or theme you're looking for? Should it be "cool"? I don't know where to start.
Here are some rules I think are good to follow:
Here are some rules I think are good to follow:
- Do not include any personal information such as birthday or zip code in the address
- I like firstName@example.com or lastName@example.com or firstName.lastName@example.com
- Have you considered registering your own domain name so you'll have the email address forever?
Joseph Arimathea
New Email
I strongly suggest you use a scrambled username like t9Wx4R?t#c@aol.com in order to foil the brute force dictionary attacks of spammers. You can actually receive spam mail in an email account you haven't even gotten around to using for weeks since you opened it, if you use addresses like nicole2015 or nicole007. Those addresses are easily busted by spammers.
Of course, your friends are unlikely to tolerate an address like the above; they want to know who's writing them.
So open an Outlook web mail account and make use of the 10 free alias address options they feature in their free account. Use these addresses for all your socializing and pattern your alias address after something like this: nicolesecondwordatoutlook.com
.
That second word is important. Suppose you have a special friend named Richard and you want to have an address exclusive to him.
You can start with nicolerick3sW%ctY7?@outlook.com . Then if the address somehow becomes known to an undesirable, you can notify Richard that you are about to delete the old address and replace it with nicolerichard4B$sc6?9@outlook.com .
Richard notices the change in the second word from rick to richard and does not have to scrutinize the difference in the random strings to distinguish the old address from the new one when he copies the new one into his Contacts. Nor does he ever have to type it, as it will drop down in a menu when he starts a message to you, and he can select it.
Again, that random string at the end of your address will make it extremely difficult for a spammer to guess with an automated dictionary scanning program.
It's possible that spam is the last thing on your mind these days; but spammers have a way of moving it near first place.
The best remedies in life are preventative. You can set and forget.