Social: Presence

Type a username and we check whether it is free across the networks, which is worth doing before you settle on one. There are three answers, and the third matters: exists, does not exist, and the site did not answer clearly. The last one usually means the network blocked our check rather than that the name is free, so treat it as unknown and confirm by hand. Using the same handle everywhere makes you findable, which is the whole point of choosing carefully now.

Presence checks one username against more than fifty sites at once and tells you where it is already taken. Casting looks you up by name. If your handle is the same everywhere they find you, and if it is different on every site they find somebody else. Type the handle you want, without the at sign. Letters and numbers only, which is all most of these sites allow anyway. Check runs them one at a time and fills the results in as they come back, so you watch it work instead of waiting on a blank screen. A green tick means the name is taken on that site. A plain one means it is free. An amber question mark means the site would not answer clearly, which is usually a block rather than an answer. Every result is a link. Open a green one before you give up on a name, because now and then it turns out to be an old account of your own.