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> An important part of it mentioned elsewhere in the thread is the fact that Facebook basically acts as a glorified address book/communications hub - if I want Chris to come to my party or add him to a group conversation about something or share a picture with him, all I need is his name. Not an email, not a phone number, just a name. It's pretty incredible if you think about it. Nothing else comes close.

I thought I read somewhere teens aren't using real names on FB ? What's the general usage ?




Exactly two people out of 251 on my list have ever used pseudonyms. In both cases it was brief as it annoyed the hell out of everyone else and we told them so.

A spam-free email account where everyone can be reached by real name is really quite attractive.


Within my friends (high school), some use pseudonyms (or middle names as last names) to avoid being seen in revealing photos by colleges or employers.


Of the few hundred friends I have on Facebook (almost all under 18), not one is using a pseudonym. Not sure where you heard that.


I believe I read it here when the google plus real name policy was debated.

Here's an old article mentionning this fake name trend: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/oct/02/facebook-child...

I am not a teen anymore but I find this surprising because IRC, MSN was all the rage when I was younger and nickname was really the norm. Just like those _xx_daemon_xx_@hotmail.com addresses.

I am a supporter of half-anonymous practices and I am surprised it's not more widespread than I believed.

Update: And from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Teens-Social-Media-A... I can see fake names seem to be marginal, with people managing at least one real/official account.




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