[potatolicious]

I dislike using my real name online - though in some cases (like HN) it's pretty trivial to discover my identity.

My real fear isn't having my more rant-y posts associated with my IRL life, but more extreme possibilities like 4chan/Reddit doxxings and abuse.

I also no longer use the same handle as when I was a kid, so I've got that going for me.

[diminoten]

I feel like the Internet has gotten the same treatment that hitchhiking has gotten - stories make it seem dangerous, but when measured, the danger is much lower than expected.

[bmelton]

Agreed. Above and beyond that too, humans are naturally paranoid animals, and bad at seeing probabilities when assessing personal risk.

If a child that looks like yours is abducted, it makes you more paranoid that your child will be abducted; even if that other child was halfway around the world; even if that child was abducted by a relative; etc., etc. Despite the fact that abductions are rare, and that they're even more rarely done by strangers, blah blah, the brain gloms onto the perceived danger and isn't very good at letting go of it.

[09F911029D74E35]

>more extreme possibilities like 4chan/Reddit doxxings

I've actually had that happen to me. I was generally respected but had rather strong opinions on (relatively uncontroversial) subjects, so one day someone who didn't like me that much decided to go all internet detective on me and dug up various data about me, like my name, address, phone number, names of relatives, Facebook pictures... Up to that point I had been generally pseudonymous (though I had been a bit careless with my info - some domain whois data was my undoing, and while my Facebook account is shut up tight for strangers, this isn't the case for some of my less technical relatives).

Luckily enough it didn't turn into any abuse in real life, as most people thought the doxxing was a stupid move. Now I just get some idiots occasionally spamming my name and picture and insulting my family in front of me. It's easy enough to ignore, but it's also kind of sad that my pseudonymity is basically dead by this point. The genie is out of the bottle, and I can't really put it back unless I start completely over - which I just can't do. As a result, I tend to avoid talking about some controversial issues altogether, as I don't want to "taint" my name by saying something that could be perceived negatively in the future. There's also some things that I just feel rather uncomfortable to talk about with my name and info out there, like the doxxing itself, which is why I'm using a throwaway account for this post.