: Very simple - of course anyone can fake their identity or invent virtually
: anything, that's not the issue here. The reason that the use of one's own
: name tends to be a mark of maturity is that those who do tend to feel no
: need to invent a new personna - they are comfortable with who they are.
Pffffft. No offense, but you could also make the argument that using your own name is egotism, using the same points. As you could for a pseudonym.
I've used my real name on a ton of forums. (Fora? *shrug*) But the name "Steve" is rather common... the only reason I went with my HBO nick was that "Steve" was already taken, my full name is rather long, and moving to my initials didn't feel right (monogramming the Internet?). I was already using the "Anton P. Nym" on my email address as a spam detector, and it's unique and moderately clever, so I went with it and appended my real name to the end.
I had no intention of using "Enkidu" as a posting nick except during the Terminals, but I got used to it and folks liked it... and again, there was already a "Steve" here. (Hi!) So I've kept it.
It comes down to a matter of taste... and that argument can last until heat-death kicks in. Or should I say "collapse" here?
-- Steve also signs each post with his real name, so that may mean he's a fence sitter on this one.
