People think I am a dick.

Prejudice. It’s a bad thing.

I’m a victim of prejudice. I am sure we all have been at some point. Some more than others, due to appearance, gender, race, disabilities, and many other completely unfounded reasons. Prejudice is what builds walls between us, and prevents individuals who practice it from experiencing everything life has to offer.

I’m guilty of prejudice too. I’ve made judgments based on the strangest of criteria when it comes to evaluating people. However, just recently I came to the realization that I am being judged in the social media space based on perhaps the strangest criteria of all.

I have an odd name.

In the social media world, you are two things on the surface from which people make judgements: a screen name, and an avatar. If you’re lazy like a lot of folks, your avatar is generic, so you’re just a screen name. I like to be 100% transparent about who I am online, so whenever possible, I use “mikehollywood” as my screen name.

So here’s the rub - I’ve been asking people I’ve met lately (at SXSW notably) what their initial take is on my screen name, and if they would even click through to see what I am about if they noticed I followed them. The answers:

“Selling something.”

“Self absorbed.”

“Not real.”

“Dickhead.”

“Bot.”

“Spam account.”

“Arrogant.”

“Porn Star.” (this actually may be the most frequent…)

For those that know me, I do my best to avoid all of the descriptions above. For the most part, I am a quiet guy. I don’t chest-thump. I’m a bit socially awkward at times. I’m decidedly not in the shape I would need to be for any chance at the porn star thing.

I actually was just visiting a big ad agency in NYC, and happened to catch a glance at an email that happened to be on the screen when we arrived. Evidently, the account team we were working with thought it would be fun to speculate if my name was real (it is) and if it was a stage name (it’s Irish.) Judging by the reactions I get when introduced in new circles, I can only assume that this conversation has played out numerous times, no doubt with someone taking random pot-shots at the defenseless.

Even some of my best friends from college have admitted to me that they were initially put off by the air of arrogance that assuming the Hollywood name comes with. My best friends initially thought I was an asshole… man, that’s some ditch to have to climb out of!

So what’s a guy to do? On the one hand, I have this tremendous asset - a memorable name that some folks would die for. (I’ve had marriage proposals tendered on the spot before.) On the other, it creates boundaries between me and many other people that make a judgement based on something as silly as the last 9 letters of my twitter handle. I’ve thought about changing it… but momentum is a powerful force. That’d just be too hard, given the number of platforms on which I’ve established myself. Plus, adopting a “stage name” to avoid people thinking I have a “stage name” is strangely ironic.

For now, it stays. But if you meet me, or if this blog post is your first exposure to me, please… don’t judge.