Anonymity can sometimes be very liberating. Maybe when I become a better writer or my startup is wildly successful I will reveal my identity. Until then I don't see why I should silence my most authentic voice by closing this account or use my real name on every comment that I write. What's wrong with using a pseudonym once in awhile? Some people only use a pseudonym - is that so wrong?
I treat this account more like a diary. I take more risks under this account. It grants me creative license to be myself but not the self I want shown when someone googles me.
What if my startup doesn't work out? I'm going to need a "real job" and if the economic environment gets much worse I might find myself interviewing with a conservative pointy-haired boss. This is a real life possibility and if it turns out that is what happens I'm better off if my interviewer hasn't read my honest ramblings on corporate life, sex, philosophy, politics - all of which I feel free to discuss under a pseudonym. Look at it another way: in a worst-case-scenario, let's assume one day I am wrongly accused of a terrible crime - do I want the prosecutor to take out of context my most controversial, intimate musings? There are after all some things you can't say. I haven't exposed much under this account - I just started it a few weeks ago - but <edit>my reaction to the negativity in this thread</edit> is What is wrong with someone detaching themselves a bit from their ego? <edit>Downmodders,</edit> how am I hurting the community?