I think that what "real names only" people don't understand is that unique real names are designed for a physical world in which we can say and do things behind walls and closed doors. The internet doesn't have walls or distances. There is no separation between the work office and the dance club. A Google search and our boss knows who are our friends, what are our political opinions, and all things we can keep private in the physical world. The use of pseudonyms recreates the distances necessary for our privacy.
Yep I like that thinking - no walls and distances on the internet. To take your example a step further, a google search and our boss sees what dance club we attended, sees photos of our last messy night there, and see our comments on pillreports (in a hypothetical case of having a bit too much fun one full moon, and posting about it before the sun comes up). There's a time and place for real names, and it's not most of the time online.
