Why I will not use my real name online

[snailrind]

My lovely sister,

You asked me why I won't use my real name online, and so this blog entry is dedicated to you.

I know my insistence on nicknames must seem petty and strange. I'm putting my reasons here because I have many teenage friends, on the brink of their future careers, who use their real names online; they could all do with reading this. So

Comments

[twisted_times]

I never use my real name online either, just my first name occasionally; it is, however, a very common name of Biblical origins and is consistently in the top 10/20 lists of most commonly given names to babies.

Even if I used my surname as well it wouldn't be very helpful as it is an equally common name also. My middle name is more unusal, but I never put that down online, ever. ;)

[uk_sef]

I used to be more unfindable online by my own full name than pretty much all my relatives and people I know - including the ones who barely did any computing in their own right! The first umpteen hits would be other people elsewhere with the same name. Just one link, a long way down, was a mere mention of me by someone I know in a gaming context

I Yam Who I Yam!

[anonymous]

I am one of those non-naive people who uses her real name online and I really have to respectfully disagree with the premise that doing so is a bad idea. Although I don't think there is anything wrong with using an alias or nickname online, I think using your real name online is just fine provided you are aware of your digital footprint and proactively manage your digital identity

Re: I Yam Who I Yam!

[snailrind]

Wow! Have I really known you since 2009? How time flies...

[anonymous]

Plurkbudgie says: chirp.

[uk_sef]

[anonymous]

Plurkbudgie says : cheep.

[uk_sef]