Danni's Blog

I’m currently on Twitter as danni63. Some of you already know me by that ID on instant messenger programs, but it’s not very creative, is it? Besides one of the first rules you learn about Twitter is to use your real name.

Unfortunately that’s proving to be a delimma.

You see, I started acting back in the early 90’s, then started working online in 1997. Everyone who knew me back then, knew me as Dannielle Wood. Everyone who knew me personally, knew as Danni. That’s how I knew myself. When I got married in 2002, I needed those who already knew me to still be able to identify me, so I just added my married name to the end. I’m still Danni, but my legal name, thus my formal identity, is Dannielle Wood Hixson.

But “DannielleWoodHixson” is too long to use as a Twitter ID. So is “DannielleWHixson.” Here’s what does fit and what my thoughts are about each:

• “DannielleWood” – my original, initially marketed name. That’s why my website is “danniellewood.com.” But my husband is very proud of his last name. “We have our own town, you know.” Yes, he’s a direct descendant of The Hixson of Hixson, Tennessee. Even though he wouldn’t say so, he’d be awfully hurt if I didn’t use his name. Well… if & when he finds out, he would say something. Not much – just enough that I’d know it bothers him. If it’s possible to avoid that conversation, I’d rather not have it.
• “DannielleHixson” – only family knows me as Dannielle Hixson. Maybe my current customers and prospects have picked up on the “Hixson” added to all my emails & websites.
• “DanniHixson” – if you call my home and ask for Danni, you’re gonna get “which one?” My husband is Danny, too.
• “DanniWood” – Yeah, that’s who I was for the first 39 years of my life, and most people know me as either Dannielle or Danni Wood… But there’s that leaving off my husband’s name again, and it’s not who I am “legally.”
• “DanniWoodHixson” – I like it best, mostly because I’ve been Danni all my life and it’s more my own identity – how I know myself. But EVERYONE else, just about it, knows me as Dannielle! And there’s that “Hixson” added to the end… “Who’s that?”

ALL that said, there’s this little voice in the back of my head that says, “Get over yourself! You’re not ‘famous’ enough to worry about the name you market, much less how people get to know you on Twitter! Who cares who you are legally? Besides, if you use Danni, that’s how you originally wanted to market yourself anyway, so you get back to your original identity!” (Yes, I couldn’t use Danni, my own name, because that domain was already taken for a porn site. I was furious about my name being misused!) So, there is that part of me that thinks that what ever I use is irrelevant – I can even keep danni63 and it wouldn’t matter.

I can’t decide for myself, so I’ve decided I’m gonna let everyone else choose. Leave your comments below – even if you have other ideas. The choice that gets the most votes wins.

Let the voting begin!