I know who my friends are. Their online nickname doesn't change that a bit. Heck, when I lived in California, everyone there called me by a short form of my i

I know who my friends are. Their online nickname doesn't change that a bit. Heck, when I lived in California, everyone there called me by a short form of my internet nick at the time. Most people didn't know my real name, and the few who did still called me what everyone else called me. It didn't change anything. My boss even wrote my check out to that name once, with my real last name. I had to have him correct it. I think some people are scared of things being different, and socializing on the web is vastly different than socializing in your home or a bar. This 'real names' thing is an attempt to hold on to a little bit of the socializing they are used to. It will pass.