I lead multiple independent lives (no, I am not kidding). I consider this to be one of them. I keep all my lives completely seperate and no one is ever allowed to piece it all together. There is little crossover between them and even that is strictly controlled. I have always been that way and even when there is nothing to hide, I still want strict privacy. It spooks my family out because they cannot ever figure out exactly what is going on but that is just the way it has to be. Each is a seperate universe and you can’t cross those.
Factor the very, very small, but not zero, chance of getting the unwanted attention of a weirdo/stalker/psycho by the megakajillion people who could be reading. Simple prudence.
OOOOH! OOOOOH! Almost there! (do you have any idea how hard it is to type this with ONE HAND?)
UUUUUHHHHHH! There we go.
All done now.
You sure you don’t want nothin’ to do with this? Guess I’ll flush it then.
Do us a favor- next post, say “tat” or “bottom” to give us a head start! ;D
My username is my name: Laurel Ann (and I left out my last name) Kelly. It really doesn’t bother me if people know who I am. I grew up in Ashburnham, I go to UMASS, Lowell. I live with g"JANEY"floyd. I’d rather not divulge specifics such as my phone number, my exact address, etc. I will say, though, if you’re a creepy stalker looking for me, I do have a few very LARGE friends.
It’s the random whacko thing for me.
There is no such thing as total privacy, but I don’t have to make it easy for nosy people, or weirdos.
Whaddya know, my brother goes to UMASS Lowell. Go figure, huh? Small world.
I’m a little more paranoid than you, concerning my name - comes from my dad’s numerous warnings about creepy people out there. Y’all can know that I go to Duke University and my first name is Karen, but that’s about as much as you’ll get out of me.
Ok, ok. My middle name’s Elise. But that’s it.
Well, it’s a partial anonymity. It’s my real first name, city and occupation. All my hobbies, anecdotes and interests are real. Anyone who wants to can make an effort to find me.
To avoid getting e-mail from friends and family saying:
I saw this post you made on the SDMB. Is that your REAL opinion on the subject? I never knew you had THAT opinion. So …
a) I’m having my will changed tomorrow.
b) I’m telling Mom.
c) I’m going to forward your posted opinion to your boss.
etc.
I prefer to be anonymous just for the principle of it, because I can. That’s not to say that I’m not who I write as here or any other place, but just that if I wanted my personal information to be widely known, it would be obvious. That’s also for the participating in the funky TMI threads, if I’m anonymous, then I can post away happily.
Many of my friends and family know I spend time here, and they know my online username, so it wouldn’t be hard to figure out who I am. I wouldn’t want that. So far, I haven’t posted anything that anyone I know would be surprised to see, but I’d like to keep the option open of having segmented online names. Not because I behave differently wherever I post, just to seperate the level of information I disclose.
Also because of the stalker thing. I’m not worried about it, but I’d rather not have someone put together enough information about me to be able to find me. Again, not because I’m worried about it, but because I have the option to prevent that.
Dear Mr. Wombat:
I would like to tell you of this GREAT opportunity. An M. Wombat has recently died in Nigeria and the government is AFTER his money. I cannot, as a humble person, get the money myself. If YOU were only to give me your SSN # and bank account NUMBER then we could share this fortune of 5,000,000 U.S. American Dollars.
Thank you,
Joseppus
I have no compunctions about using my real name here. Its unusual enough that most people find out very soon anyways!
RancidYakButterTeaParty is my real name. It all started when…
I don’t give out my info. because I am a middle school teacher. On the odd chance that one of my kids finds this place and reads all of my posts, they could probably cause some problems for me here at school. I wouldn’t mind them knowing my opinions, mind you, but it would be tough to deal with “Hey, Mr. YakButter, why do you always count your steps when walking down the hallway, you freak!”.
I have been a college instructor for a decade, and I knew for a fact some of my students were on these boards. And I sometimes post things I do not want them to know. It’s as simple as that. Plus, I like the mystique as well. 
that was great–was it good for you, too?
tat/bottom/tat/bottom/tat-bottom–is that enough or do you need more? 
My moniker here is a play on my name–Rigby. Hee.
So, yep-y’all can know my name is Eleanor, but that’s about it. Why make it easy for the demented among us (including trolls here) to find and harass etc?
Hey, welcome to the boards, Dorjan (too lazy to find the accents).
My feeling about picking up creepy people online is that I’ve had even issues in real life that I feel safer online. Some random guy in the building where my lab is would get noticed. The guy in four of my classes who spent a year sexually harrassing me doesn’t. I’ll take online freaks to him anyday.
I am easy to track down if someone wants to, as I use this username everywhere.
I have been stalked twice in my life, once by an internet creep who called me at work (and posted my name and telephone number on a porn site). In all my years online, one asshole stalker loser? I’m not going to sweat it.
“For a good time, call Julie Carter…”
To keep the weirdos at bay. I’ve had more than enough unwanted offline attention over the years, but like the “imaginary friends” in the computer too much to leave them all behind.
Most of my students know i hang out here, and most know my screen-name as well, since they e-mail me assignments at that address weekly. But plausible deniability to the random passer-by is sometimes handy.
Besides, Silenus is a demi-god. John is just a short, fat, bald guy with weird tastes in shirts.
Some time back there was a thread here on the SDMB that contained a link to another message board. A user on that board was discussing the fact that his girlfriend had a twin sister, and that he was really more interested in dating the sister. As I recall, his posts were written in a way that only served to reinforce the impression that he was a shallow, sexist jerk. Anyway, one of the other users tracked down who this guy was, and who his girlfriend was. Then sent the contents of the thread to the girlfriend. Hilarity ensued.
On the one hand, this seemed a clear case of an asshole getting what he deserved. But n the other, it was a frightening reminder that what you say, even in an anonymous setting, can bite you on the ass.
I’ve never been incredibly worried about keeping my own identity private on this board. But I’ve been very conscious about respecting other people’s privacy. When I talk about people I know, particularly my family and close friends, names and details are routinely changed for their protection.
Sorry, my name isn’t John, it’s Paul.