I don't think that Facebook asks for real names to prevent bullying. It's a policy to help advertising metrics and create a community rooted in the real world.

I don't think that Facebook asks for real names to prevent bullying. It's a policy to help advertising metrics and create a community rooted in the real world. Bullying happens regardless of those rules anyways. The biggest issue with Twitter is that their system doesn't encourage positive behavior. On HN, Reddit and other forum software value is added to an anonymous identity over time and with the involvement of it's user. Mechanisms like votes are in place to provide a feedback to the user. Account ranking and age gives you credence. It's still possible for users to commit social suicide but it becomes less likely once the account has been padded with history. Twitter on the other hand has two metrics: following and followers.