the important thing about pseudonymity is that it is transient. if, an hour from now, i decide i want to be sex_girl_69, i can do that and you're not going to know that's the same person as me. i can always come back to being notatoad again tomorrow.
you only have one real identity, and it is forever. a pseudonym might be a completely functional identity and just as real as your legal name, but the point is that it has a degree of freedom that you will never have with an identity built around a legal name.
On the internet ... yes it will. The freedom is simply there.
Hell, even in the real world you have all this freedom. When I introduce myself as Swizec in real life, nobody questions anymore whether that's my legal real name or not. They just take it that that's what they are supposed to call me.
Pseudonymity is a much more real concept than people are willing to admit to themselves. In fact, at this very instance, everybody in the world is pseudonymous. Most just choose not to exercise this freedom.
Why do you suppose more people on the Internet choose to exercise this right then in real-life?
I had never considered that the level of pseudonymity available on the Internet is available in real-life as well. Really the only thing that the real-life has which you can't change would be your DNA.
In real life you can maintain pseudymity by just never exposing your identity. This happens all the time, much more often than the Internet (e.g. As I type this under a tree by the road of my uni, no one knows who I am and yet my nick here absolutely identifies me).
Because you are being so open about it why do you feel you need to use a nick in real-life?
A lot conversations for this story seem to have focused on the concept of permanence with a nickname. If you use the same nickname across a multitude of services then you've created a "real" identity.
I'm trying to understand peoples reasoning for this. To me there seems to be two prevalent reasons:
1) You want your single identity to be under a name you choose, not have it be forced upon you like you real name was.
2) You want to maintain a multitude of identities each with a specific purpose.
Really? When I introduce myself people often ask if it is actually my real name with a lot of doubt in their voice, and my name is a lot less crazy than "swizec".
Hell, even in the real world you have all this freedom. When I introduce myself as Swizec in real life, nobody questions anymore whether that's my legal real name or not.
A bit, but in real life if you walked up to your colleagues and said "hi, I'm throwaway347" they would say "Swizec, what are you talking about?".
And if you were in the Mall and bumped into two people you know, one of them could say "Gregor (or whoever), why is that person calling you Swizec?" and vice-versa, and your multiple identities would be known to both and no longer separate or as useful.
On the internet, you can come back to HN under another name, and ask for advice about your failing company finances, or your awkward personal relationship with your cofounder, and you don't need to trust the people here to keep your confidence because you haven't shared anything tied to your identity. IRL you need to pluck up the courage to share your problems with someone who a) you know enough to value their advice, and b) who didn't know them, and c) will now know them forever.
you only have one real identity, and it is forever. a pseudonym might be a completely functional identity and just as real as your legal name, but the point is that it has a degree of freedom that you will never have with an identity built around a legal name.