Well, pseudonyms can be fun, look at some of the interesting names that people have given themselves here at Mudcat. You can bring out another aspect of yourself that you've worried about people seeing before. Also, although the majority of Mudcatters wouldn't harm anybody else, they may not be the only ones reading these threads. Pseudonyms can give a level of privacy and security that straightforwardness doesn't. I'm not sure how much that privacy or security is real and how much is imagination but it probably doesn't matter. I think Jeri is right in saying that anonymity can cause people to respond differently and sometimes that's what you want.