> but personally I feel like I'm less likely to engage in the sort of behavior which might invite an angry mob while posting under my real name.

The problem with this is the 'sort of behavior' you are referring to is posting any statements that disagree with the worldview of the majority of the people in your circles.

Without anonymity you will also lack civil discourse when all of the sane people on the minority side know not to speak up because they fear retribution.

Anyone who publicly considered voting for Trump was accused of being a sexist, racist, xenophobic, Islamophobe. So instead of any sane discourse, there was just a surprise upset when Trump won because everyone was convinced the strategy of accusing all Trump supporters of 'isms' until they shut up was working.