Let me say it a bit differently. I think you and I are talking about different things. You are focused on whether someone can be identified as an individual, which is a valid concern and you make some very good points. But I was talking about whether a name identifies someone as a member of a group. Real name often do, and the stereotypes associated with that group would color how other people respond to their postings. A pseudonym like Diane or ChrisH has fewer associations, and some thing like tmac has none at all (that I can think of). So, while your real name might not be associated with a particular group, many people’s names are (mine, for instance).

“You may call me Chris”

Are you perhaps of polish heritage and therefore is you name perhaps Krystyna?
(I ask because one of my bosses – I call all my receptionists bosses because that’s what they are! – said exactly that when I asked what I should call her when I looked at her application form and wondered how on Earth to pronounce that)

1: My choice to not register to comment on news sites?

2: My daughter’s choice to use her grandmother’s last name?

3: The choice to be careful with internet security?

4: My choice to not use my last name? Or to not use my full first name*?

You are not using your own name, so you must have had the same choice of being anonymous on this site. There is nothing that requires you to post comments anywhere. I, for one, refuse to use Facebook. That is a choice that bothers my relatives, but if I want to update them on something I actually email them (or with my father, send him a hand written letter by the postal service, or a phone call).

Everyone has a choice whether or not they wish to comment, and there are ways to not use your real name.

* Which I hate, and no one outside of my family is allowed to call me that, and they only do it when they are mad at me. It is not as common as the others with the same nickname, people always guess wrong. I just respond with “That is not my name”, and when asked what my name is I just say “You may call me Chris.” I am not telling them. Especially after the horrendous mispronunciations of it.

Oh, I agree completely. And I did think about that when I chose the pseudonym Diane, but I chose it to honor someone whom I had been fond of and I decided to keep it despite its connotations. But some people do have entirely neutral names, like Bronze Dog, and for them you can’t tell anything.

@ChrisH
That might be true of you but it’s certainly not true of everyone.

The one disadvantage to using real names is that the real name will usually tell you the person’s sex, and maybe give a clue as to their race, nationality, or religion as well.

I think the only thing you can get from mine is probably a whole swath of Christian religions. I have checked the Facebook listings for my name it came up with men, women, some young and some old, and an entire spectrum of skin color.

Country could be narrowed down to about three continents. If I forget a couple of important numbers on my email address some nice fellow in England gets emails meant for me.

There is a reason we gave our daughter a name that is used for both men and women.

I think one very valid reason for anonymity is safety. There are some crazy people who will stalk or harass a person in real life. My younger son was stalked by a young lady who attended a high school in a neighboring town. This was quite a while ago, and she did find our number in the phone book (only one listing for that last name), and kept calling. Fortunately she quickly stopped and apologized. Hence the emphasis on online security in our house.

tmac57:

Reading their comments on even the most benign fluff piece of ‘news’ is likely to generate (degenerate) comments that can actually lower your IQ just reading them.

That is why I do not read them, nor do I register to comment. It is not just news, I am amazed at the vitriol posted under comics like Funky Winkerbean. Though the ones posted after the “New Adventures of Queen Victoria” are pretty fun (it seems have a skeptical bent).

Well, not exactly, because I’m certain that those judgements are still made subconsciously with the pseudonyms. For example, a person may assume you are a woman over the age of 35 by “Diane” assuming you live in the US, since that name has had a significant decline in popularity the past several decades (but was a much more common name for people born prior to the mid 1970s). Now those judgements would not necessarily coincide with your actual characteristics, but I’m not sure that helps much if we are talking about biases. I have occasionally wondered if the “cc” in ccbowers makes people think of the female name.

By the way, my name is not Diane or anything similar to it.