How to Get Around OkCupid’s Silly New “real Name” Policy
Online dating OkCupid recently made two big changes to its platform , one of which has to do with usernames. In short, you can no longer hide behind AIM-like screen names like “HoneyBabe37” or “StudddMuffin96”. That’s right, now they need real names. Fortunately, there is an easy way to keep you anonymous.
This new policy is very unhappy with many OkCupid users, and for a pretty good reason. Other dating platforms like Tinder and Bumble ask you to use your real name when logging in with Facebook, but this is the reason why many people prefer to use OkCupid in the first place. They need the ability to learn more about potential dating through detailed profiles and messages before sharing any real personal information. And users do not want their answers to intimate questions to be publicly available. Honestly, OkCupid doesn’t ask you to give your full legal name :
“… with this change we will not collect full names; instead, we encourage our users to use whatever name they would like their dates to call them on OkCupid. “
However, your real name and the city you live in is all it takes for this day and age. You could probably find someone, or at least their social media pages, with so little information. And it can be especially dangerous for marginalized people (or those who don’t want their gender or sexual preference / relationship to be public), opening them up to harassment elsewhere.
So what should a lonely person seeking solitude do? Lies . Come up with a name for your profile. It can be any name, but keep a couple of things in mind when choosing a dating alias:
- Make sure it sounds like the real name (OkCupid is looking for people who are still trying to use the name xBlazeLoveMagnetx or something). An OkCupid spokesperson told Gizmodo that new usernames require at least two letters and should not contain numbers, symbols or emoticons.
- Make sure this is not a variation of your real name or your real nickname that you regularly use. OkCupid encourages people to use aliases if they want to (like Liz instead of Elizabeth), but it doesn’t hurt your privacy.
If someone is okay, you can reveal your real name with a text message or something similar. This tactic should work fine until OkCupid finds a way to require name verification. At least another change recently made by OkCupid is a little more welcome: you both have to like each other before you can send each other messages like Tinder. This should help cut down on all the “hello” messages you get from random cranks with bad selfies.