HERE’S THE ANSWER
Gleaned from this thread as of 8/18 2:18PM
At least I think this is the answer. Or answers.
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Because when you take the IRL identity stuff out of the process it makes communication smoother.
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Tradition. Yes, we do it this way because it’s the way we’ve been doing it for a long time. Since the birth of Facebook or whatever.
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So crazy people won’t track me down. Which seems crazy. But that’s just the kind half-acknowledged half-conscious consensual fantasy that people seem to buy into. So maybe it’s true.
Of course, but bear in mind it’s going to be a crude, primitive example.
Imagine me talking to - unknown fact to me - a pedophile over the Internet. For reasons unknown I made him angry. Angry enough to stalk me, invade the privacy of my home and steal my child, just to make me suffer because he felt I did him wrong.
My anonymity protects me against such an occurrence.
Ya, the “crazy people tracking you down” reason. I get that reason. But really? I mean, it’s a kinda crazy reason? Are there that many crazy people here?
One nice reason I saw was “it makes communication smoother”.
Also, maybe it’s just tradition.
I have no idea whom I’m talking to in the 'Net.
Neither have you. Nor anybody else…
I could be pretty crazy, you don’t know who I am and I don’t know you. Also, people can lurk without your knowledge and not even make themselves known to you. Those are the scariest to me.