My name on my YouTube comments (both new and old) has changed. Why?

[Michael McChesney]

Whenever I commented on a YouTube video, the comment would have my name: Michael McChesney.  But starting a few days ago the name on my comments was changed to @michaelmcchesney6645. I have no idea where the @ or the 6645 came from.  It is not a social media handle that I use and nothing comes up when I google it.  If I remove the @ from a google search, a Linked In page for a Michael McChesney that isn't me is the top result. My name was changed on not only new comments I leave, but comments I left over a year ago.

 

Does anyone know why my name might have changed?  Any idea how I could change it back?  Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[GOTSpectrum]

2 minutes ago, Michael McChesney said:

Whenever I commented on a YouTube video, the comment would have my name: Michael McChesney.  But starting a few days ago the name on my comments was changed to @michaelmcchesney6645. I have no idea where the @ or the 6645 came from.  It is not a social media handle that I use and nothing comes up when I google it.  If I remove the @ from a google search, a Linked In page for a Michael McChesney that isn't me is the top result. My name was changed on not only new comments I leave, but comments I left over a year ago.

 

Does anyone know why my name might have changed?  Any idea how I could change it back?  Thanks in advance for any ideas.

google is now making it so we all have tags on there. Mine for instance was changed but by going to the creator dashboard I could change it. I believe they are meant to be unique to every user but I could be wrong on that 

[IkeaGnome]

17 minutes ago, Michael McChesney said:

Any idea how I could change it back?

Channel customization, basic info. 

It'll keep the @ tag, but you can set yours so it doesn't have numbers as long as there isn't someone with that tag already.

[Michael McChesney]

Thanks for the information.  It lead me to a video by the YouTube community manager that says handles were rolling out but that everyone would receive an email about it.  Would Gmail have sent an email from YouTube to my spam folder?  Now that I know how to change the handle, I suppose I could change the number to my birth year or zip code, but that would only help identity thieves.  At least now I understand why it changed.  I also learned "my channel" to which I have never posted anything added 7 subscribers in the last 90 days.  Imagine how great I could do if I ever posted a video?  Maybe I should record some paint drying so my subscribers have something to watch.  Watch out LTT, I'm coming for you!

[Mark Kaine]

4 minutes ago, Michael McChesney said:

Imagine how great I could do if I ever posted a video?  Maybe I should record some paint drying so my subscribers have something to watch. 

you have my sword brush

 

 

OT: i knew they're going to add "handles" but why would that change my "name"? or is this only for comments? 

 

(still stupid, google keeps getting worse by the day...)

[IkeaGnome]

53 minutes ago, Michael McChesney said:

Would Gmail have sent an email from YouTube to my spam folder?

They didn't go to my spam folder in Gmail.

I got emails on Oct 20 and Nov 2

47 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

OT: i knew they're going to add "handles" but why would that change my "name"? or is this only for comments? 

https://www.youtube.com/handle

I think it's part of how they're arguing with Telegram scams. Maybe? Seems more like aligning usernames and user interactions with Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram from the marketing on that page though.

[Mark Kaine]

On 11/20/2022 at 10:44 PM, IkeaGnome said:

I think it's part of how they're arguing with Telegram scams. Maybe? Seems more like aligning usernames and user interactions with Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram from the marketing on that page though.

like I said,  it sounds *really* incredibly stupid.

 

 

 

 

[Cakelestia]

Sorry for digging this up, but today this happened to me as well.

 

Every comment that until yesterday was showing the actual user names now only displays the @username instead and Google somehow even changed mine by adding a random number to what it was before. Trying to change it back by removing the number resulted in it throwing an error stating that allegedly the name I wanted to have is already taken - which I literally had on that very same account until THEY changed it.

 

Well, I then took measures and changed the name and @username completely to something that was possible without adding ugly numbers.

 

Feels to me like XBox on PC all over again, I literally had the same shenanigans going there as well, but I couldn't get a name without some random number added to it and it also said the one I tried to use was being taken already while it was still free when entiering it into the respective text field.

 

Would be so much less of a hassle if we could just keep our custom display names and have them actually displayed regardless off the "hoofle". Basically like the old Discord name system, for example. But they had to change it to a worse system as well...