Jamestown Sun:
As the thousands of Sophias and Isabellas and Jacobs and Masons born this past year will learn when they go to pick up their backpacks off the soccer field or sort their duffels in college dorms, their names aren’t as unique as they are.
But their Twitter handles will be one of a kind, and some companies that specialize in customized products are already seeing social media names replace initials or birth names as IDs. Or you might find something decorated with a wink-wink emoticon or social-media acronym that not all parents can decipher, or the hashtag that is an of-the-moment, pop-culture rallying point.
Social media are influencing actual design, not just which designs are popular.
“As we see customization become more ubiquitous, we see this trend growing,” says Marc Cowlin, director of marketing at CafePress, an online retailer that lets consumers put their own stamp on apparel, accessories and more. “If you think about what you do in your regular life, you customize everything: your TV schedule, with DVRs letting us watch what we want to watch and when. Your radio is an iPod playlist or niche satellite, so why not with your own product?”
He adds: “Teenagers love having something in their hands that no one else has, or that only the right people have.”