Pseudonym

Pseudonym is a fake name that a person or group of people choose to take on for a particular purpose that can alter an original name or differ completely. When the online community started back in the 1970's pseudonym was, and still is, a way of creating anonymity to separate the real world from the online communities you've chosen to be apart of.

Just like creating laws against texting and driving, you can't create a rule or law on something until there is a problem with it. Up until about the twenty first century there wasn't a big problem with people hiding behind fake names to discredit or hurt another person. But just in the last couple years the online community has been doing everything they can to weed out the trolls. Google Plus has gone being to make an action to shut down every account with names that don't look real.

Facebook
Social media companies have been against creating fake accounts since the companies have been created. In the recent years several news sites are now requiring you to be a Facebook user to be able to leave comments on any of the sites. This protects the look of the site because most likely if people know who you are they are less likely to leave a comment that make you look bad.