On another forum I used to post under my real name. From a discussion where a disagreement arose, albeit be civil on line, the discussion turned nasty, and I was increasingly harassed until I was genuinely concerned for my personal safety.
You might say that if everyone was identifiable then it wouldn't happen, but how would be verify the identities? Someone could take exception, then track you down off-line.
Call it irrational, but that's my personal experience. On in exceptional circumstances would I post under my real name again. Being on HN is good, but not good enough.
Finally, the source code is available, I'd be interested to see someone enhance it to require real, verifiable names and see how popular it becomes.
You might say that if everyone was identifiable then it wouldn't happen, but how would be verify the identities? Someone could take exception, then track you down off-line.
Call it irrational, but that's my personal experience. On in exceptional circumstances would I post under my real name again. Being on HN is good, but not good enough.
Finally, the source code is available, I'd be interested to see someone enhance it to require real, verifiable names and see how popular it becomes.