Usernames vs real names
An article catched my eye the other day: Google Begins Pratically Begging You to Use Your Real Name on YouTube
Google recently added to YouTube a new “feature”: when you try to post a comment (and you aren't already using your real name through Google+), you'll be prompted to switch to using your full name instead of whatever nickname you picked when you registered. While they do their best to convince you to switch, you're still free to carry on as before. That is, for the time being. How long before they decide that this is mandatory?
The point of this move is probably to try and improve the quality of the comments on the site: by having real names displayed next to each message, some people might be more careful before starting to insult others for no valid reasons. Even yet, studies tend to show that this doesn't have any real effect.
I'm annoyed by this trend seen everywhere. Either it's real-name policies being put into place, or it's commenting systems are being torn apart and replaced by a silly Facebook posting gizmo (more of my thoughts on that here). I've been using the nickname “Dr. Cossack” for over ten years now. As of a year-and-a-half ago, I started using “Doctacosa” outside of the Mega Man fandom as something more personal, without any ties to gaming or existing people and/or characters. This is me. It's my Internet front.
I'm not hiding my real name. Anyone who's even remotely curious to know it can find it very easily. However, since the early rise of the BBS (then later the World Wide Web), we've all been able to select whatever name we want to represent ourselves online. I don't feel like this has been a major issue in the past, and it still isn't today. As such, why are so many media groups pushing for real-name policies, when it's as easy as before to use a fake-yet-realistic name?
– Doctacosa