This has been a long time coming.
When I started on Twitter back in June 2008, I was under a handle that made sense then—@doomsdayblaze. It was the screen name I’d used since my first email address in 1998; the name of the website where I ran Fish ‘n’ Chimps; the screen name for my LiveJournal—back then, it was what anyone who knew me online knew me as.
When I hit 2010’s HoHoTO—my first Twitter event of that size—Diana Pronosher was flabbergasted at the length of my Twitter handle, suggesting I change it. Since @doomz was taken in 2009 by a rapper I’m trying to track down, I tacked “TO” for Toronto on the end and @doomzTO was born (as referenced in the ever-infamous “HoHoTO Rap”)!
For the next 40 months, I had a shorter Twitter handle, but not one that really reflected who I was becoming.
After moving from doomsdayblaze.com to caseypalmer.com in 2011, “Doomz” was becoming more of a shadow behind me than a name I’d associate with. I was signing my blog posts with a shortened version of my name, “case p.”; I was sharing with my real name all over the Internet—with the days of anonymity coming to a close and Facebook tying everyone to a “real identity”, why not have a Twitter to match?
And after a friend helped me connect with @CaseP’s former owner on Google+, he was gracious and me the handle, since he’d only tweeted 4 times since 2010 and didn’t use it much.
So goodbye, @doomzTO. Goodbye to an era of partying, getting to know Toronto’s social media scene and building a name for myself. Here’s to a future where I get that much more professional, that much more grown-up—ready to handle whatever lies ahead for Casey Palmer. The opportunities and challenges that Doomz never had.
#100HappyDays Day 25/100 — such a success.
–case p.
