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Why can't we change our usernames??

 

  • Why can't we change our usernames??

    Ok, I think it's about time a petition was started for this...anyone else find it highly frustrating and annoying that usernames can't be changed?? Sort it out last.fm!!

    http://www.last.fm/group/Change+the+username!

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  • I have been on this site for a few years. In these years I have posted links to my profile or journals on quite a few locations on the web. The moment I would be able to change my username on this site, I would render all these links useless.
    Hell, it would be even more fun if someone else would sign up, using my former name, because all these links would re-direct to a profile that is not mine ;)

    That is one reason. A biggie (in my humble opinion). Furthermore, with a 20+ million userbase, and 65 members of staff I think they can use their time better than changing your username(s). Or even re-writing the database-structure (and all sorts of connected mechanisms) in order to offer the option of changing a username.
    Face it: Last.fm is one of the very few companies that still sees you as a name, instead of a number ;)

    I just did a search on another site (one that does allow for name changes) for 'Jester'... It returned results, and 7 out of 10 profiles on the first page used the name "Jester" (without any additions, one of them without a capital J). I like the fact that I am a bit more unique here...

    Remember to say "thank you" for the things you haven't had
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    • snyde1 said...
    • Subscriber
    • 3 Feb 2010, 22:47
    Right on, Jester!

    Did I hear that right? Mondegreens - for the misheard word.
    Like Odds? Can't get better than Even Odds!

    Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
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    • next__ said...
    • User
    • 4 Feb 2010, 19:04
    There's no way in hell that last.fm doesn't use unique IDs indexes to store people's accounts, but I understand that it wasn't designed to allow mass username changes and that would probably shutdown last.fm for a week until everything's resolved

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    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 7 Feb 2010, 04:35
    Seems websites like Twitter and Dailybooth allow name changes, they work using names and not numbers. I will admit the links become useless after you change your name on sites like that, but if you're like me and you don't post your link about too much It wouldn't be that much of a problem.

    I think the thing is that people made a last.fm account at the randomness of the moment, they didn't put much thought into the username, maybe even thought they wouldn't use last.fm much, when everything is all linked up and your library starts growing you realise how cool this place really is, but it is too late to change your half thought out name and if you make a new account you lose everything!

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    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 7 Feb 2010, 22:11
    Who cares about broken links.

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    • toc-rox said...
    • User
    • 8 Feb 2010, 08:52
    Maybe interesting: Essential Profile Transfer - Sufficient?

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  • http://www.last.fm/help/faq?category=96#161

    I think last.fm needs to reconsider this. It's definitely possible to do and probably not at the expense of a few last.fm HQ headaches. Like Brian931 said, Twitter allows this. Facebook will allow you one username change, I believe. It's one of the few things I don't like about last.fm as I've been stuck with this username with no way of transferring my 4 years of stats.

    At least allow ONE name change. I love Keane still but I've grown out of this username.

    Or another solution: AIM doesn't allow you to change your username, but you can download your buddy list and upload it into another account. It would be cool to do that with your scrobble data.

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    • dankine said...
    • User
    • 8 Feb 2010, 15:36
    sigh...

    "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"
    "I don't want to believe, I want to know"

    Auto Corrections Group
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    • maz35 said...
    • Subscriber
    • 8 Feb 2010, 17:49
    Of course its possible, I dont particularly like my username but really its just a username. In a choice between time and effort spent adding a rather pointless feature like this over new features that may actually have something to do with the purpose of this site..you know..music I know which I would choose ;)

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    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 9 Feb 2010, 06:35
    maz35 said:
    Of course its possible, I dont particularly like my username but really its just a username. In a choice between time and effort spent adding a rather pointless feature like this over new features that may actually have something to do with the purpose of this site..you know..music I know which I would choose ;)
    Really? You're trying to say this has nothing to do with the purpose of last.fm? Is last.fm not about what individuals listen to, which is a reflection of their personal tastes, and therefore them? Cause if it is a personal reflection, then being able to change your username actually is purposeful to last.fm.
    If there was nothing personal about having a record of what you listen to and it was solely about music, then people would just make new accounts and be content with losing their history. Clearly, some of us aren't content with that. Another failed argument from a mod. Good job guys.

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    • maz35 said...
    • Subscriber
    • 9 Feb 2010, 10:55
    FireProphet said:
    maz35 said:
    Of course its possible, I dont particularly like my username but really its just a username. In a choice between time and effort spent adding a rather pointless feature like this over new features that may actually have something to do with the purpose of this site..you know..music I know which I would choose ;)
    Really? You're trying to say this has nothing to do with the purpose of last.fm? Is last.fm not about what individuals listen to, which is a reflection of their personal tastes, and therefore them? Cause if it is a personal reflection, then being able to change your username actually is purposeful to last.fm.
    If there was nothing personal about having a record of what you listen to and it was solely about music, then people would just make new accounts and be content with losing their history. Clearly, some of us aren't content with that. Another failed argument from a mod. Good job guys.

    No I don't think a different username on top of it has any impact on the personal record that is your account(which I hold dear and would never delete) its just a name. What's under it is the important thing.

    Oh and preserving old links is much more important to me. For example I don't wanna have to keep relinking the journals in my group because people keep changing their names.

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  • Several usernames

    Maybe a good idea would be able to have several usernames and set one of them as main? Links with the old username(not set as main) would be redirected.

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  • uterpendragon1 said:
    Maybe a good idea would be able to have several usernames and set one of them as main? Links with the old username(not set as main) would be redirected.    Fascinating!

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    • vs271 said...
    • User
    • 9 Feb 2010, 21:16
    I'd love to merge my two accounts. I like the redirecting idea. Sorta like an Autocorrect.

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    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 10 Feb 2010, 07:32
    maz35 said:
    No I don't think a different username on top of it has any impact on the personal record that is your account(which I hold dear and would never delete) its just a name.
    I don't think you understand what I'm getting at. It's not just about having a personal record for one's own reflection. The ability to add friends on last.fm and comment on profiles of others implies community, and in that sense a username is important. Mine right now only reflects how I'm known from one other online community - where I was first introduced to last.fm. I like the username, but now that I recognize the scope of last.fm, I want to change it to something that would be more personally identifiable to people outside that one community as well.

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  • Jester-NL said:
    I have been on this site for a few years. In these years I have posted links to my profile or journals on quite a few locations on the web. The moment I would be able to change my username on this site, I would render all these links useless.
    Hell, it would be even more fun if someone else would sign up, using my former name, because all these links would re-direct to a profile that is not mine ;)

    That is one reason. A biggie (in my humble opinion). Furthermore, with a 20+ million userbase, and 65 members of staff I think they can use their time better than changing your username(s). Or even re-writing the database-structure (and all sorts of connected mechanisms) in order to offer the option of changing a username.
    Face it: Last.fm is one of the very few companies that still sees you as a name, instead of a number ;)

    I just did a search on another site (one that does allow for name changes) for 'Jester'... It returned results, and 7 out of 10 profiles on the first page used the name "Jester" (without any additions, one of them without a capital J). I like the fact that I am a bit more unique here...

    I agree completely, with Jester on this.

    brian931 said:
    Seems websites like Twitter and Dailybooth allow name changes, they work using names and not numbers. I will admit the links become useless after you change your name on sites like that, but if you're like me and you don't post your link about too much It wouldn't be that much of a problem.

    I think the thing is that people made a last.fm account at the randomness of the moment, they didn't put much thought into the username, maybe even thought they wouldn't use last.fm much, when everything is all linked up and your library starts growing you realise how cool this place really is, but it is too late to change your half thought out name and if you make a new account you lose everything!

    I understand your point, but that is not really relative and puts you in the minority, that really have no use for Twitter and it's primary purpose.

    Use a similar model to My Space and other social sites, when they ask you to create your own unique url - First, you get a warning, "once you create your unique url, it cannot be changed afterwards." Second, after you type in your url and click create, you get a second option saying, "Are you sure you are happy with what you have chose?" Simply replace url with profile name.

    This would also, give staff and mods a valid answer to this type question in the future.

    Better Similars? Play Artists Custom Tag Radios: , , , , , , , ,
    COOL Groups @ Lastfm: Skiye Sounds Next Event: Prog Rock 2012
    Music:, The Madeleine Haze @ LastFM, Skiye@LastFM, Ellsbeth@LastFM, World Versus Me@LastFM, DigJelly@LastFM, Level-C@LastFM, Woolgather@LastFM, Lunarium@LastFM
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  • I feel a bit sad about this because I created my username when I had an old domain name, and my username does not represent me at all. I'm a bit more mature now, and prefer everything to be uniform and kept the same. Benbnmorg makes no sense (to anyone but me), and isn't useful if people want to track me down using the same username I have on all other social sites.. which is in fact my full name.
    I'd like to see the possibility to at least request a name change.

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  • Those of you arguing that changing the username should not be allowed because it voids your links invalid are being a bit short-sighted.
    Just because you are unwilling to render existing links invalid, you assume the feature as unnecessary and that others should not have the chance to do so. This seems nonsense to me

    It is a matter of allowing choice.
    Want to keep your links? No problem, just don't change your username and you'll be fine.
    Can't see a reason to oppose the feature when you have the choice of just not using it.

    If they were smart, this would be made as a subscriber feature.
    You can bet they would notice a nice bump on the number of subcribers.

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  • I like it how it is. It assumes site users have more than three neurons.

    -G.

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  • The fact this question keeps coming up over and over again shows that there is a large and strong group of last.fm users who would like this feature. The arguments to not implement some kind of system for changing your username, or at the least transferring scrobbles to a new account don't really add up and are fairly short sighted.

    The last.fm users are asking, will last.fm listen?

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    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 19 Feb 2010, 20:44
    DarkAngelPT said:
    Those of you arguing that changing the username should not be allowed because it voids your links invalid are being a bit short-sighted.
    Just because you are unwilling to render existing links invalid, you assume the feature as unnecessary and that others should not have the chance to do so. This seems nonsense to me

    It is a matter of allowing choice.
    Want to keep your links? No problem, just don't change your username and you'll be fine.
    Can't see a reason to oppose the feature when you have the choice of just not using it.    True.
    panda4king said:
    The fact this question keeps coming up over and over again shows that there is a large and strong group of last.fm users who would like this feature. The arguments to not implement some kind of system for changing your username, or at the least transferring scrobbles to a new account don't really add up and are fairly short sighted.

    The last.fm users are asking, will last.fm listen?    And true.
    They'd be smart to listen and keep users happy. This is the internet, and it's a competitive market.

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  • panda4king said:
    The last.fm users are asking, will last.fm listen?    I can not recall the times the last.fm users asked for artists like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin or Metallica. They are not here yet...
    And I do think that some people mistake websites for democracies. Completely forgetting (or ignoring) business-models, cost and benefit coming with any change or any other (more obscure) reason that a website and its owners can come up with.

    I think most people wanting to change their username do not look any further than their own username, and see no (big) problems. How many of you realise that ALL people who want to change their name will put an tremendous amount of work on the two or three people that have user-interaction (including e-mail and forums) as their job? And that there is a limited amount of hours in a week... just as there is only so much patience that waiting people can show?
    In the end, "No, it can not be done", is the far more practical answer than one that would be something like "Err... yes, most probably before june 2011... and that is if no-one will take a holiday or (god forbid) change jobs..."

    CrybKeeper says it nicely: How often do (the often mentioned) Facebooks and MySpaces allow for changing of your unique URL?FireProphet said:
    Who cares about broken links.    So... because you have never written a journal on this site, others should not worry about broken links?
    As a matter of fact, you have used so little of the more social options of this site that you might just as well delete your profile and start again. Or, a bit less blunt... using (only) your own profile/ideas is hardly a good basis for getting your point across ;)

    Regarding the 'competitive market'... I have checked the competition a bit, but I haven't found a better site (and that is regarding the basis of this site... scrobbling)
    I never found anything good enough to stay and want (or need) a namechange... but that can be because I have been using this nick since 2001 (or so) and am very content with it.

    Remember to say "thank you" for the things you haven't had
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    • [Deleted user] said...
    • User
    • 20 Feb 2010, 00:34
    Jester-NL said:
    So... because you have never written a journal on this site, others should not worry about broken links?    As someone else pointed out, that's faulty. You're assuming that an option to change a username means absolutely every single person's last.fm address must be changed. Other sites let you do it without causing any conflicts with the links of others. There's no need for your assumption.

    I'm not sure where I complained about the available social options of the site or used my profile experiences to state anything. This is about one single option that doesn't exist, which is usernames. Besides, if I could change mine I'd probably use more of the "social options" and invite more people who are outside of the community in which I use this nick to last.fm. Ironically, you're the one who tried to write off the community aspect of last.fm. So that wasn't very effective.

    Whether there's currently a better site or not, the possibility of a better one popping up remains.

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    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 20 Feb 2010, 01:16
    Not essential. When people really do want to change their username, they start a new profile and put a link to the old one(s) in their About Me.

    I'd like it if we could reclaim old usernames that aren't being used, for instance I would nab Babs if I could. Apart from that, meh. It's not important.


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