Twitter dogpiles are a fairly modern concern. People have been using different nicknames on the internet as part of basic information hygiene for a long time. F

Twitter dogpiles are a fairly modern concern. People have been using different nicknames on the internet as part of basic information hygiene for a long time. For kids it's a basic "talking to strangers", bullying and "teenagers doing teenager things" protection. For some it's to avoid stalking. Another reason it to just not have a history attached to yourself when you join some specific community, it's baggage.