[happen_io]

I'm surprised no one has brought up that it depends some on what your real name is. Some names are more searchable than others, and some names are unique where others are shared with lots of people. If you are the only "Klandon Forzuth" on the planet then your online activities are much more easily found than if you are one of a million "David Smith"'s.

And sometimes people want to avoid being pre-judged, so Saheed may want to use a psuedonym when participating in an online discussion about 9/11 regardless of his views.

If your name because something of a brand or source of credibility, you'll probably want to use your real name. But if you're well known in one domain but want to participate in another domain without the baggage of the other domain, you may want to not use your real name. Same reason why some writers use different names when they write in different genres, even if it's not secret that they use multiple names.

I suppose there are several famous people participating in online activities that we are all unaware of because they don't use their real names. It's like avoiding being mobbed by fans on the street.

It you have an abusive spouse or stalker, you may not want to make your online activities so easily discoverable using your real name.

So it's not just because people want to be rude that they use a pseudonym. It's more complicated than that.