I guess twisted, idle, late-night curiousity and boredom drew me into the kind of a thread I would normally avoid like the plague. But something made me read. And then I saw your post:

"If you post anonymously, even if your post is innocuous, I think it violates the trust that other people place in you."

In a way, Joe Offer, I see your point. But your shotgun approach hurts me. I count myself a long-time member, if not exactly a regular, and I have on at least two occasions posted anonymously. Once, for fun and play (and I'll eventually come clean), and once in pain and need. I knew that you and others COULD see my identity, but trusted anyway, and it was how I chose to use this tool and reach out to this community. I can't speak to 'the trend', but I can say that I've appreciated having the right to remain (mostly) anonymous on occasion.