Do you use your real name or an anonymous username when signing up for and using various online platforms—such as Hacker News, Twitter, Discord, and others?
Ask HN: Real name vs. anonymous username – which do you use online and why?
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Re: Ask HN: Real name vs. anonymous username – which do you use online and why?
#2A mix. Mostly one or two pseudonyms that could - with effort - be traced to my actual identity. So, pseudo-anonymous
Re: Ask HN: Real name vs. anonymous username – which do you use online and why?
#3A mix. Mostly one or two pseudonyms that could - with effort - be traced to my actual identity. So, pseudo-anonymous
This.
If I’m networking with other mostly-realname people for professional purposes or writing something to support my professional identity, it’s real name and what I post is carefully curated.
If I’m working on a hobby, it’s a pseudonym that someone who was really determined might be able to trace back to my real identity.
For any other expression of opinions in public forums, it’s pseudonyms all the way.
Re: Ask HN: Real name vs. anonymous username – which do you use online and why?
#4My employer’s legal team threatened action after they found my personal site that contained free informational courses about the industry. The site specifically called out where information was sourced from, and linked to those publicly available places (from google/fb/etc - not my employer).
I no longer post with the real name anywhere.
Re: Ask HN: Real name vs. anonymous username – which do you use online and why?
#5My employer’s legal team threatened action after they found my personal site that contained free informational courses about the industry. The site specifically called out where information was sourced from, and linked to those publicly available places (from google/fb/etc - not my employer). I no longer post with the real name anywhere.
Hope you are no longer with that employer. That's aggressive action from them about free information.
Re: Ask HN: Real name vs. anonymous username – which do you use online and why?
#6In certain places like Bluesky I use my real name.
Here, I'd only ever be anonymous because I'm not in control of my content, I can't edit or delete comments. I could only post throwaway comments in a place like this.
When I was on Reddit I was anonymous because it's not a serious place.
Re: Ask HN: Real name vs. anonymous username – which do you use online and why?
#7Pretty much always fake. While the “risk” of using my real name is probably small, there’s also very little benefit to me personally if people knew who I really was, so why bother.
Exceptions: Github, maybe Stackoverflow, but it’s been a while since I’ve posted there.
I grew up on the internet in the 90s and early 2000s and the general rule then was not to give out your name and info. So I just keep following that.
Re: Ask HN: Real name vs. anonymous username – which do you use online and why?
#8Using my real name severely limits what I can post online. This is helpful with my desire to limit my use of social media.
Re: Ask HN: Real name vs. anonymous username – which do you use online and why?
#9Always fake, and a different one for each site. There's no need for me to link my identity between multiple platforms, so I don't.
Re: Ask HN: Real name vs. anonymous username – which do you use online and why?
#10Real name for LinkedIn, GitHub, and my website. Everything else is a nonsense name, often varying. Varying mostly because it's fun to have a goofy name on a platform (like mine here on HN).
Years and years ago, I used my real name on Reddit. I've since deleted that account, but I'd absolutely never use my real name on something like Reddit.