I realised recently, when looking at my default e-mail signature, that I'd been identifying myself as "1st Vamp" for a long time (7 years now), but the people I know online a mixture of those who will identify me as either Wes or Vamp. There are some who know my name, and would ID me if they saw it, but still prefer to call me "Vamp" as it's the name they have seen my comments under for so many years.
As a matter of course, those that didn't know my real name, had no identification of me in real life, unless they go to the about page on my site and look at my photo; so I changed my e-mail signature to include both my Nom de Guerre and real name, a very small gesture as nearly all those I converse with regularly I will via IM, but it makes a small difference to those I will strike up conversations with for the first time, and conversations held over the mailing lists I am subscribed to.

There is a lot of power in a name, but that power is equally differential depending upon it's location of use.

I suppose one of the strangest examples of this, would be the completely anonymous weblogs @ http://invisiblog.com/

I have a dilema here. Basically, I have one nick that I've used for a while. Not 7 years, but close.

Now, I'm finally getting round to getting my own code out there, and I want potential employers to be able to download and check for quality, etc. But I'm not so sure I want them reading rants by me, under my pseudonym. I'm not a troll or anything, just a bit passionate on some things.

The solution, for me, is to rebuild my online identity with my real name. This is a pain, but there we go.

Very interesting. I think that attitudes to this may vary by community.

For my other two main online interests, (Perl and ascii art) it seems to be a matter of conscience whether you use your nickname or your real name. If you use your nickname, it's assumed to be for reasons of personal preference, possibly related to privacy concerns, and no-one minds about it as long as you are consistent and sensible with it.
Many people use both, while some fiercely defend their real names.

Is the difference that these are 'old' internet communities, where there is a culture of hobbyists and nicknames? Java being a 'new' and corporate language has started without the cultural baggage, doesn't see the necessity of nicknames and is therefore intolerant of them.

It's very strange moving from my comfortable persona of 3+ years (osfameron) to being recommended/obligated to use my real name.

I'm not sure I like it.

(Is the comparison of use-name / true-name in the Earthsea books relevant?)

Ultimately, in any case, you can't enforce "real names", only "real-looking names".
On the internet, no-one knows that you're not called John Smith.

I think with some communities (very likely with Perl) it's probably more the influence of IRC - where nicks are the norm and real names are closely guarded secrets. I've jumped a lot from IRC to the 'real world' over the last seven or eight years, and it's an interesting transition.

For me, it's just a personal thing. I've been an IRC addict for almost eight years. I was hooked on Usenet before that. I've seen a lot of 'online persona' over the years, and I've just learned that I'm more comfortable when people shed persona, and fit back into their own skin. Asking people to use their real names is the most effective way I can find to prompt that transformation.

It's not guaranteed to be effective. Some people actually consider their skin to be alien and the persona to be themselves, and I make allowances for them. I certainly can't stop someone who sets out to lie to me. I just want to put the framework in place to make my blog more comfortable for how I want the world.

When I first used the Internet I always used my real name. I was amased that others used all kinds of stupid names so i began to use a nickname. But on comments I always use my real name, I want people to read what I say.

Good call. On another count, the word "contempt" is a lot of fun to use. From an altered version of President Bush's State of the Union address:
"This Administration has taken unprecedented steps towards showing utter contempt for the environment." *applaus*

I go under the name stevo on the net as well as in real life. People these days are finding it hard after a long time of useing nicknames to use their real name on the net. My real name, Stephen, is rarely used in real life because society has grown too lazy to say an extra two letters. Another reason people on the net are used to using nicknames was because in the early days, you had limited space to enter your name, usually only 8 characters. This caused many people to use nicknames, like people who couldn't fit their real names into the space given. Also, in many cases spaces couldn't be used either, making an even bigger headache.

Charles, Sorry but i don't agree with you ... nobody asked you about putting all your personal stuff to the internet .... there are many people out there for whose privacy is a very serious thing ... (i feel for most bloggers it is not) .... if those people find a blog like i found yours and they feel they have to write a comment to a particular topic, imho you simply have to reckon on postings using nicknames instead of realnames (like i do) ... but that's internet and that's life :)

hope you understand my english, it's not perfect, yet ...

Ben: This being my website, I get to choose the barrier to entry. :)

Hi Charles

Interesting thread. I completely respect your right to ask for my real name and I am more then happy to give it.

I found this thread particularly useful as I am working on a site that currently requires people to enter their real names. However because this is aimed at non-web savvy people, I worry that we miss out on a lot of potential new users because they worried about their details being on the net.

this name is not what I wanted to have . to me it is embarracing. I would like to change it without making any of my family members mad . afterall I am named after my grandmother