While we were recording Episode 9 of TheSocialGeeks podcast, one of the sites mentioned was UserNameCheck.com , a cool utility.  It basically runs through almost 70 social sites (last time I counted) and verifies if your desired username is available.  From there you could pick a new name that was open everywhere or go add yourself to services that you not discovered.

It suddenly struck me that most people are not trying to be a ‘brand’

a known name or identity across networks that is easily identified by some username

You can find me on all the networks under the same exact name.  But perhaps I was a naive person, or young adult and had someone following me online.  WIth this type of service they would easily find you across networks, or use it to glean more and more profile information on you.  With the combination of information numerous sites require, you are able to built an almost complete information profile about a person with not too much effort.  We need to push the sites to reduce some of the required information, besides getting smart about what we publish.

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