It prevents me from writing harsh things. I figure that anonymity is temporary, that real identities can always be determined if someone digs hard enough. I don't want something I say in the heat of the moment to come back to haunt me years later.
It's not for everybody. I've probably made some secret enemies that know my name. But for me, it seems to be the best way.
People see it as a right to say whatever they want to whomever they want, but really should we be able to do that without consequence?
Anyway, I love this idea - it just sucks that I can tend to have what some would consider politically extreme ideas that some employers may or may not find off putting. I inevitably create "alt" accounts on sites like Reddit to voice these views.
Also, as a rule I only use this name on sites that are clean and professional, ie: github, where I know I will only post sophisticated things that could benefit my career, unlike reddit where i just want to fuck around.
That's a terrible policy. Anyone can create a username as you then and post offensive things and you'd be screwed.
Also some names are super common and therefore cannot be proven to be just one person. Just google Rick J Wagner and tell me if you only find one of them.
In 2010, I could have said "women do not have a penis" and faced zero criticism. But if I say the same thing today in the ultra SJW woke society of 2018, it's grounds for instant allegations of transphobia, sexism, and a whole bunch of accusations that result in social and professional ostracizing without any sort of verification or context. All it takes for this is one person who dislikes me enough to dig through $age years of online history and finds that one statement that does not hold to this instant's ultra progressive intersectional social justice standards.
Put simply: I do not trust society at large to remain rational enough to want to attach my real name to anything but the most mundane of statements.
Plugins please, maybe tor-browser run out of the text-based-web-speeder 'request policy'-plugin -and no, 'ublock' is not an option (-;