Whither BigLebowski?

I’ve started to wonder, as I take the next, tentative steps in a career that began with the technology of communication and has become centered around its next-generation medium, whether to change my Twitter handle from @BigLebowski to something more personally branded and appropriate. It’s something I’ve been considering for a while, especially as my follower list approached 500 and shot past 600.

It was never my intention to be some online doppleganer of The Dude, as others have done with characters from my favorite show. I joined Twitter after reading about its runaway success at SXSW in 2007. I started the signup process, only to discover that my first and last names were unavailable. Not one to be deterred, I tried to figure out a name that was interesting and funny and represented my interests and aspects of my personality. Twitter’s 15-character limit on handles precluded me from being @DreadPirateRoberts. That’s when I said, “To hell with it”, and chose @BigLebowski. Originally, the feed was semi-anonymous, with only my first name and a photograph of me crudely Photoshopped to look like the iconic Lebowski poster with the rug that “tied the room together” reflected in his sunglasses.

For the most part, my Twitter experience has been positive. Most Twitterers are amused, and perhaps a little jealous, to meet someone who was on Twitter early enough to snag such a coveted property. I get a kick out of people, especially character Twitterers like @LebowskiForPrez, who’ll message me quoting lines from the movie, which are amusing except when they get the quotes wrong and I have to correct them (well, I really don’t have to, but I’m retentive enough that I do). And regardless of what my handle is, I’ve little doubt that Melanie Spring will continue to shriek “Big Lebowski” or “Brian Lebowski” in greeting whenever I see her.

On the negative side, this has now become a very public persona, fairly well known in DC social media circles. Even though I should have expected a strategic communications firm to which I applied to look at my Twitter feed, I was still a bit surprised when the content of some of my Tweets was discussed during a lunch interview. It was amusing to discover that the context of some teasing Tweets about CPAC I sent to a formerly right-leaning friend of mine were interpreted as a sign of my political affiliation. The hiring manager somehow thought hiring me into a very left-leaning firm would bring some balance to the force or some such nonsense. Boy, were they wrong!

So here I am…at a big of a crossroads. Should I keep the @BigLebowski handle, just because I can (and by can, I mean I haven’t received a C&D letter from the Coen Brothers’ or Universal Studio’s attorneys)? Or should I change the name to something that better reflects my personal brand, vis-a-vis my name or the name of this blog? Any and all (non-spam) comments welcomed.