[icebraining]

But you can only do that because HN, Reddit and other sites - unlike Facebook and Google+ - allow you to create that chasm between the two identities.

There's nothing wrong with an individual choosing to use his legal name in his profile, but we should be weary of making that decision for others. Personally, I won't join any service that maintains such policy.

[vidarh]

Absolutely. I may join such services, but I will self-censor. I hardly use Facebook, for example, because I don't want all those personal details spread to a lot of people I care less about that many people I only know by handles, but feel social pressure to add. So my profile exist, but is pretty much devoid of content, and it will remain that way.