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Comment by tw8888 | Hacker News Reader

Use of real name isn't problematic as long as you don't have unpopular opinions. I'm not foolish enough into thinking that the work world is like college when it comes to free expression. My employer wants to be popular in the market place, therefore they don't want to be associated with unpopular opinions.

If Gawker writes a hit piece on me because I held down an unpopular opinion in a discussion on feminism in tech I know I'm out of a job. I would likely be out of most jobs in Silicon Valley.

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Absolutely! OP comment sounds a lot like the "I use my real name, because I have nothing to hide" argument.

As long as your viewpoints are completely aligned with the mainstream opinions held in your extended peer group, you have nothing to loose using your real name.

But in all other cases you never know when some HR minion thinks he became a data mining genius because he dug up some comment you made 10 years ago on a random message board,

> "I use my real name, because I have nothing to hide"

Of course I do, everyone does. I'm just very thoughtful about never posting it online ;)

Also, pet peeve: it's "lose", not "loose".

Really, a smiley face? Dissent is how civilization fixes bad ideas, and suppression of it is not to be taken lightly.

Yes, really, a smiley face. Relax. It isn't my dissent that's suppressed.

Minor correction, aligned to mainstream opinions for all time. Imagine how weird it must be for some old people to have to go from public hatred of minority group X to public idolization of the same group. And vice versa of course.

"Unpopular opinions" can change. There was a time when sexist, racist, and homophobic ribbing were de rigeur in society, entertainment, and business. They still are in some political circles. You might have friends, neighbors, or associates who turn out to be murderers, inside traders, political rebels, questioned for terrorism, whistleblowers, accused of partner battering, or of immigration irregularities (all drawn from my direct personal experience). It wasn't so long ago that a prominent political figure was accused of "palling around with terrorists".

Moreover, with profiling tactics, implicit signals can be leaked of your preferences and habits (isn't that precisely what all the heavy marketing support of all these "social" sites is about?). Subject of a current HN item:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6871033

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/opinion/sunday/shameful-pr...

Out of most jobs in the Valley? Is it really that bad? I still have the illusion that being an IT professional gives you more freedom of having an 'unpopular' opinion than any other industry. As long as your work is in high demand, that is.

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