My username is most of my real name already. All of my friends and family know this. I even make comments all the time about stuff I found on Reddit/Lemmy/Discord/etc. No one cares. Not a single person has attempted to look me up; at least no one who has admitted it.

I try to be true to myself online. It’s easy to hide behind a username, and eventually you start thinking you’re invincible; that no one will figure out who you are. And you start saying things that might hurt you or ones you love if it ever got out.

I choose to avoid that altogether and just be myself online. Keeping a username that can be tied back to myself keeps me in check and ensures I only say or do things online that people who know me in real life would respect. It helps me to be a better person, even with the anonymity that the Internet may bring.