Somehow, I’ve had the same phone number every since I’ve had a phone. Twenty five years! Every time I’ve gotten a new phone, or more to the point, changed carriers, it was trivially easy to keep the number, so I did.
It’s been nice, actually. I feel like it makes it easy to get a hold of me over the years. If you ever had my number, you still do.
I also have a policy of just using my name online. My name is Chris Coyier and I use the handle chriscoyier on everything I can. Then if someone is interacting with me online, it’s just very clear who I am and thus pretty easy to find out more about me if you choose. I’ve always done that, so the long-term nature of that I’d like to think has some value.
And so too with email. My first post-college email (I used my University email while there) was a Gmail address and I’ve just kept it every since. It’s my name @gmail.com. It’s easy to find, guess, and use. And I’ve had it for so long, if you’ve ever had my email, you still do. Seems good.
But I’m lucky. I’ve never had a stalker. I’m not from any group that tends to attract harassment. I don’t have any problematic past relationships that have needed me to lock down or change my communication stuff or online presence. So I get the benefit of that long-term profile building for free, in a sense.
That is, assuming it actually is a benefit. Do you think so? How old is your email?
One response to “How Old is your Email Address?”
kingkool68 was a handle I used for Aol Instant Messenger in middle school and has somehow stuck with me decades later. I remember getting an invite to gmail and picking kingkool68 as my gmail address. So I’ve been using GMail since 2004 or 19 years.