This debate is not going to go away. Personally, I prefer real names so I know who I'm dealing with but am also perfectly happy with pseudonyms in other forums. Having real names on Facebook is a requirement of the service as it is designed to let you find people - this would not work with pseudonyms, how are you to know that John from school goes by the online handle quark123! FB and G+ are developing models as indentity providers for both internal and external services so we have an element of trust involved, especially where any form of ecommerce is involved so we just have to go with it in those services. There is a time and place for everything, however, and there is no problem with anonymity or pseudonymity in other forums - and it is to be encouraged to allow those in genuine fear to be able to express themselves etc. - Colin Walker