How to Manage your Online Identity After You Get Married

Getting married is a very time consuming task, right from the moment he pops the question. Trust me, I know. I just got married 3 weeks ago, and take a look at the last post on this blog. It was published seven months ago. That must have broken about 50 fundamental laws of blogging.

But from coordinating with venues, to cake tastings, to flowers, and the hundreds of dress fittings you need to go to (ok, maybe not hundreds), there’s just not enough time in the day for everything. If you’re a bride-to-be reading this, I’m sure you haven’t even had time to think about what happens to your online identity after you change your name. Such as your Twitter handle.

Oh sorry, did I just give you one of those mini panic attacks? That’s right. It’s yet another thing you’ll have to think about. But since I just went through this whole process myself, let me do the thinking for you. This How to Stand Out Online After Marriage series shows how recently married women should handle their online identities to make sure they still stand out.

First, let’s start with the basics:

1. Decide on your post-marriage online name

When you officially get married, there are three common options for the bride to choose from:

• The bride takes her husband’s surname (for example, I would switch from Diana Freedman to Diana Urban)
• The bride compromises with a dash (for example, I would be Diana Freedman-Urban)
• The bride doesn’t change her name (for example, I would stay Diana Freedman)

This should be a decision between you and your future spouse. But let’s say you decide to take on your husband’s surname. You now have a couple options:

• Legally change your name, and then assume this new name online
• Legally change your name, but keep your maiden name online to maintain your identity in your networks

The second option here is a great compromise, but it may lead to some confusion down the road. For example, if your employer sets you up with an email address based on your legal name, and then you become friends with coworkers who try to find you on Twitter, which still is your maiden name… well… they can’t find you.

Ultimately, I decided to change my name everywhere; legally, online, in social media, etc. Besides, my husband’s last name is pretty awesome, so I have no complaints being Diana Urban!

2. Make a social media checklist

Once you reach your decision, first make a checklist of all of the sites in which you’d like to switch from your old name to your new name.

Here are all the places I needed to change my name:

• Gmail
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Linkedin
• Blog (on the WordPress platform)
• Google+ & Google Profiles

Each post in this series will explain step-by-step how to accomplish the name change on each of these sites. If there are any others you’d like to add to the list, let me know in the comments below!

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