Daniel. Identify theft. Profiling. Stalking. All are reasons why people use pseudonyms online.
Being able to express opinions that you think, while not having to worry with people knowing who you are while expressing those opinions, and condemming you for it.
In the many years that I’ve been online, I have unfortunately come across people who have had all of the above caused to them, causing them immmense amount of stress and suffering.
And generally, once something is on the internet – it’s there. It cannot be deleted or retracted. Might you really want your children in future years to be able to see a comment that you made in good spirits, but that could be taken in the wrong manner?
It’s not a case of hiding the full identity – most people do not try to take on a different persona when they are online – as you will see from looking around the CR, screennames can be based on values, backgrounds, profesion’s etc.
It’s just a safer way of dealing with the greater and wider unknown – if someone came up to you in the street, a total stranger, and started asking you your details – would you give it to them?
All it is, in the end, is a way of protecting yourself from the dangers of the internet (of which there are many)