Re:Power in the Age of the Feudal Internet
by vertex-four on Tuesday July 26, 2016 @04:06PM
(#12168400)
See, the idea of a singular real name is interesting to me - I have a small handful of names I'd consider "real". It's the same with a fair few people I know, to varying extents, due to the groups I'm involved in.
The ability to use many names is strongly tied to the ability to identify yourself. Being forced to use a single name in all contexts, whether you want to or not, is relinquishing that ability - it's being told who you are permitted to be by an external force.
You could still publish an assertion about a real name, but the foundations need not require it to be public information.
Handles work well for CB radio, BBS's, games, and other geeky pursuits. In the early days, your friends and relatives weren't online anyway, so why not use a handle?
But they don't work for relatives, offline friends, businesses, politicians, or really, any of the other ways we use our real names.