Remember back in the old web when letting people know your real name was a horrifying breach of personal privacy? Heck, having the same username for multiple places gave me the hives, if it was unique enough.

We need to go back to those days; not just for safety reasons but because there’s a freedom to the individualized anonymity of being a (apparently) distinct user in each instance.

Yeah I sometimes wish my parents didn’t name me trouser_mouse

Reddit was actually the first place where I didn’t use my real name. Prior to that, I was on a huge kick that one of the worst things about online communities was that people were anonymous and said stuff that they wouldn’t say to real life people. But by the time I signed up for Reddit eight years ago, I figured that ship had sailed.

I honestly don’t really care, as long as you follow the golden rule (don’t be horny on main), I’m fine with my Lemmy comment history being tied to my real life persona. But I totally get why one would want the option for private names.