The Origin Story of ploafmaster
What name do you use on the Internet?
Ploafmaster
Do you keep the same name everywhere?
Generally…I was just plain ploaf on Instagram when I rejoined until I found out how easy it was to change my username.
Where did it come from?
I actually get asked this question quite a bit, so I wrote a detailed blog post about it in 2012: http://danielcwarshaw.com/blog/wherefore-art-thou-ploafmaster
It’s long and complicated and several layers of nerdy, but here’s a shorter version: “ploaf” is a made up word taken from a team name on a multiplayer computer game in the 90s. My friends and I in high school adopted the term for any part of speech or definition. Ploafmaster combines that with “Bassmaster”, as in Bassmaster General from The Descendants’ “The All-O-Gistics”.
What does it mean to you?
Most of the time now I don’t even think about it, but “ploaf” reminds me so much of the little bit that I actually liked from high school. So I kept using the word longer than my friends, and came to be identified by it among my new friends in college. Plenty of folks still call me “Ploaf” in real life, let alone on the internet, so I just consider it a nickname. Ploafmaster? Well I’m the definitive ploaf, so of course I’m the ploafmaster :-)
Why did you choose it?
My answers to the preceding two questions probably cover this.
Do you ever think of changing it?
Never.
Why do you / don’t you use your real name?
It’s a combination of things. When I started really using the internet back in 95 or 96, that’s just what you did. Pick a cool word or name or whatever. So whenever I sign up for a new service ever since then, I’m far more likely to go with “ploafmaster” than “danielcwarshaw”. Though I do have “warshaw” on eBay. The other main reason is the whole nickname thing. It’s just as much me as Daniel.
What was your first internet screen name?
Not 100% sure here, but if you count webmail addresses, it would be “chewynuget” from the earliest Hotmail days. That’s a misspelling of “chewy nougat” - the filling in a Snickers bar. I was a lazy teenager, what can I say?
If that doesn’t count, then something equally sophomoric: Deepstar. That was the name of a made-up wizard I used to draw in art class when I was reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy for the second time.
What is your favorite name you’ve seen in your travels across the net?
My favorite is probably still Merlin Mann’s “hotdogsladies” on Twitter. I know he’s fairly well known, but I read A Confederacy of Dunces in high school and adored that book, so the reference in that handle was perfect.
Whose origin story would you like to hear next?
I’m not sure? Probably dentedmeat (on Twitter, 5by5, etc.).
Now that people have heard your story, where can they go to find out more about you?
danielcwarshaw.com twitter.com/ploafmaster And anywhere you see a car with PLOAF on the license plate :-)
