Over the last few years pseudonyms have become one of the hot button discussion topics on the internet, first during RaceFail and now on Google + with their spottily applied insistence on the use of  ’real names’. Speculation on Google+ by people who use nicknames or pseudonyms about what this means is rife. Some think it will be applied without regard across the board, others think it will only affect those who are abusing their account.

Google+’s stance appears to be clear – there is no room for pseudonyms on their site. Currently they have introduced a 4-day grace period for people not listing their real name on their profile, but after that they are still suspending accounts.

Opponents to the proliferation of pseudonyms on the net tend to cite the existence of trolls and deindividuation in support of their stance. People behave badly online, they theorise, because the mask of their false name, or total anonymity, doesn’t just enable, but encourages them to behave badly.

Maybe that is true, maybe it isn’t. It certainly isn’t something that is unique to the internet. Long before there TrollLoL1020 typed his first insult on the net people were putting on balaclavas and masks with the intent of doing horrible things that wouldn’t follow them back to their real life.

Except nothing the opponents of pseuds are suggesting will actually stop the trolls, because trolls don’t care. It is the essential element of their nature. Google + insistence on using ‘real names’? Is pretty much nothing but sugar water and perfumed air. I can go to Google and create an account with any name that I want, and unless it is obviously made up who is going to know?

A troll can and will, create dozens of different identities in order to propagate their agenda on whatever board they are on. I have seen it happen, with moderators banning a troll only for them to reappear an hour later as troll92. If someone is determined to be an asshat on the internet they will.

However, trolls aren’t the only people who use pseudonyms and people have other reasons than malice to hide their identity online. Maybe they have a hobby or kink that someone in their meat-space life wouldn’t react well to finding out about.; or they are being abused and are looking for help somewhere online; or they are trying to resolve issues or gender and identity, seeking support online; or maybe they are being stalked or in hiding from someone and can’t have their personal identity out there; maybe they are a trans person and their legal identity doesn’t match their chosen identity.

Or maybe they just like their privacy. I mean, the version of ‘real’ that people want on the internet is much more draconian than exists in real life. I might have to present my real name and id for jobs and passports, but I join a slimming club I can call myself anything I like.

The thing is, most of those people probably one pseud that they use consistently in their important online communities. It might not be their legal name, but it is definitely qualified anonymity. Their online identity is as real and important to their reputation as the name people send to house. They are the Big Name Fans of Lord of the Rings and the Social Justice bloggers and who they are online matters to them. Sometimes more than who they are off. Wear a mask long enough, and it as good as your face.

So ending pseudonymity on the net will do nothing to stop abusive trolls, and will probably help propagate the abuse of people who needed the protective of anonymity. Because now they aren’t going to have anywhere to hide. If they become the target of a troll, they can’t slough their identity and find refuge in a new one. Anywhere they go, the troll will follow.

I mean, I agree there are abusive losers on the net who enjoy nothing more than hurting people. It is just that anonymity isn’t the reason behind that. I might be an excuse, but I don’t see the Westboro Baptist Church hiding behind anonymity, or any of the other people out there in real life spreading hate-speech.

To be honest, I haven’t had a horse in this race for years. My identity online is the same one as off – Tammy Moore or T.A Moore. In general, because I am lucky in many ways, that doesn’t impact on my real life or my online pursuits. But I do have to be careful, I do have to more mindful than I am in my meat-space life about what I say or where I say it. Because it doesn’t go away on the internet. It is always out there for someone to find, and it will follow you back home.