4 ms·

Using my legal name means that my family, that stalks and harasses me, can easily find me and use it as a medium for continuing to do so. Changing my legal name

Using my legal name means that my family, that stalks and harasses me, can easily find me and use it as a medium for continuing to do so. Changing my legal name means that I would have to contact at least a dozen other entities which can be more or less as psychologically draining as the court process. Atop that, they have in the past hired sleezy private investigators which have pulled info from credit agencies so they could find and harass me. By being pseudonymous, I avoid all of those issues. Additionally, pretty much everyone I interact with knows me by my "fake" name. Forcing me to switch to that would result in a lot of friends not being able to find me. Yes, if you grew up in a "typical" family you don't have these issues, but there are a lot of people who have damn good reason for not wanting to have another outlet for people to continue abusing us.

Symbiote 11y ago
...And, you may even know people in this situation without realising it. I had been good friends with someone for about three years before discovering his real surname when I booked flights for a group. I doubt more than two or three of the people he spends time with most weekend know this; I've not told anyone. (On the other hand, I shared a hotel room with someone I was sure used a fake surname, since it sounded ridiculous, but it was on his driving license.)
morgante 11y ago
I never said anything about you having to use your legal name, and that's not Facebook's policy either. It sounds like most of your friends know you by your "fake" name. That should absolutely be the name you're allowed to use on Facebook and I think their policy supports that. (In fact, this announcement is allowing for alternative forms of "proof" like what people wish you happy birthday with.) While they haven't done the best job of finding ways of enforcing it in the past, Facebook has frequently stated that they want your offline and online names to be the same (not that you must go by your legal name).

Symbiote 11y ago

...And, you may even know people in this situation without realising it. I had been good friends with someone for about three years before discovering his real surname when I booked flights for a group. I doubt more than two or three of the people he spends time with most weekend know this; I've not told anyone. (On the other hand, I shared a hotel room with someone I was sure used a fake surname, since it sounded ridiculous, but it was on his driving license.)

morgante 11y ago

I never said anything about you having to use your legal name, and that's not Facebook's policy either. It sounds like most of your friends know you by your "fake" name. That should absolutely be the name you're allowed to use on Facebook and I think their policy supports that. (In fact, this announcement is allowing for alternative forms of "proof" like what people wish you happy birthday with.) While they haven't done the best job of finding ways of enforcing it in the past, Facebook has frequently stated that they want your offline and online names to be the same (not that you must go by your legal name).