As a woman who has been posting anonymously for years to avoid uninteresting personal attacks, I've come to enjoy and rely on it. Maybe the entire Real Names idiocy started by Google+ can be forgotten about and we can move on? Nothing wrong with an anonymous handle.

The irony is that taken out of context, this one sentiment sums up everything that is wrong with the internet and, more specifically, social media.

When removed from consequences to our actions, we’re free to say pretty much anything we want.

If everyone actually cared about the impact our words had on others, we wouldn’t have to resort to the using the same response that caused the problem in the first place.

The opinion of a person with some credibility, like name is N, lives in a city M, occupation is X is valued more than some of anonymous.

Because nowadays there are too many fake accounts, even paid trolls, and talking to them (or even listening to them) is just waste of time, not a meaningful conversation.

My twitter account is anonymous and I sometimes get replies like why would I want to talk to nobody. And they are right, they probably shouldn't.

Anonymous accounts can have a reputation, too. I have been on HN since 2008. I wouldn’t like to have this account burned. In a way, I do have a reputation of not posting total shit, since I’m still here.

Same is true for many communities where users gain popularity and trust if they participate in a meaningful way.

bingo - this; add to that higher stakes conversations, like political grouping, and you have started down the path of why anonymity is irreplaceable in public discourse.