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I have lost many potential friends because I chose not to give my real name. It gives me some anxiety thinking about whom I've lost, but it's a normal thing to

I have lost many potential friends because I chose not to give my real name. It gives me some anxiety thinking about whom I've lost, but it's a normal thing to respect other people's boundaries, and my boundary is that I don't feel comfortable with giving my real name to people I haven't met in person. And I have ethical reservations to go as far as lying to make up a real name just to keep a friendship founded entirely on something I'm not comfortable with. It almost makes it seem like it's wrong to keep the social boundaries I have and that I'm doing harm to myself by withholding new human relationships just because of my discomfort. But I know that if those people are generally going to carry those standards then I can't change them, and it's my choice to disagree.

O__________O 4y ago
I tend to be super social, and agree, there’s frequently people that either clearly state not being identifiable is a deal breaker or just fade away. One’s that are the worst though are people that after you have set boundaries assume that they’re special and your boundaries don’t apply to them; frequently they share information that wasn’t requested, then demand because they did you must too. If someone’s not able to respect your boundaries, just politely communicate it’s not good for and wish them well. There’s 8 billion people on Earth, wouldn’t worry about it, at least I don’t, but clearly limits population of people that are interested in having meaningful relationships.