John,
I actually use my real name as a style decoy.
It's easy, almost irrisistably tempting, to attack a guy whose Fray nic is Yiddish for filthy scum. But under my real name I'm some Irish guy from Illinois, and a real live person. I figure by putting my name up there, I personalize my scribbling. And by doing that, perhaps, just maybe, I might avoid attacks by way of the symapthy vote.
Kidding aside, I thought about it for a few minutes before telling Mike my real name, and writing crappy stuff under it.
Online identity theft- I don't worry about it because of the steps I've taken to protect that, although I can understand why people might want to keep full names private for this reason.
Harrassment at the workplace- I don't worry about that, because if someone decides to call my boss with a bullshit claim about me, they're calling me. (I won't fire me, even if I did act like a dickweed.) If someone calls my boss to tell him I'm a shitty writer, I'm even more confident I won't fire me for that reason, because that's old news.
Fraysters- I too was hoping to avoid that sort of shit, and for the most part have. Mike has done a terrific job of watching the gate. Frankly, I don't give a fuck if Fraysters know my name, although they're the most likely suspects I can think of who might try some shit with the info. Having said that, I would rather that a fellow Quiblit member not post a link to my name here, over on BotF. That's just asking for trouble.
Sincerely,
Fred Derf