
You want to set up social profiles for your product. You check the obvious username. It's available on most platforms. One has it taken. Now what?

Two options. Keep the clean name where you can and use something different on that one platform. Or pick a new name that works everywhere. The first option sounds practical until you realize what it costs. Someone finds you on Twitter, then searches Instagram and sees a different username. Looks inconsistent. Looks like you didn't plan this. Looks amateur.

Consistency matters more than having the perfect name on some platforms. Better to have the same handle everywhere than your ideal name in four places and a compromise in one.

## Suffix or prefix

Once you decide to add something, the question is what and where. Suffix or prefix.

Suffixes don't work. I don't know many examples beyond `_app` or `_official`, and both feel technical. Corporate. They work for enterprise tools maybe, but not for products built for people. Not for love brands. Adding `_app` feels like an apology. Like you're saying _"sorry, someone got here first."_

Prefixes are different. `hey`, `the`, `get`, `try`, `use`. They change the vibe, not just solve the availability problem. They feel intentional. A prefix sets a tone.

## Match the prefix to your product type

- **the** feels authoritative. Established. Like you've been around. Think `theverge` or `theguardian`. Use this when your product really stands out.

- **hey** feels approachable. Community-oriented. Friendly. Good for consumer products and services built for people.

- **try** or **get** feel action-oriented. Developer tools. _Try this_ or _Get started_. Very SaaS. Skip these if you're not building for developers.

- **use** has a hook quality. `use[product]` tells you what to do. Also dev-tool territory.

## Write it down and look at it

Repeating letters kill otherwise good names. `theedicek` has two e's touching. `gethey` would have `th` and `he` overlapping. You won't see it in your head. Write it on a document. Imagine it on a billboard or a business card. If it looks weird, move to the next option.

## Ask someone who'll tell you the truth

I wanted `theedicek`. Sent it to my wife along with `heyedicek` and `edicekapp`. She picked `theedicek` last. The double `e` bothered her. I hadn't seen it, but once she pointed it out, I couldn't unsee it.

You need someone outside your head. They'll spot the thing you missed. The visual weirdness. The odd connotation. The option that just looks wrong.

Pick one and use it everywhere. Register it on every platform you might use, even the ones you're not active on yet. Someone will take it if you don't. Consistency beats perfection.

-Petr


Consistency beats having the perfect name on some platforms. Prefixes beat suffixes. And you need someone else to spot what looks weird.

Petr Homoky

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Your product name is taken on social media. Now what?