I've been wondering why people use fake names and no pictures on Nairaland? People use their real names on Facebook, Twitter, etc but here on Nairaland people only use fake names and no pictures.
Pls why is this so?

That is the difference between a message board and a social network.

ChinenyeN:

That is the difference between a message board and a social network.

There is no difference; they are all ways of socializing. So they all fall under social networking sites.

It is an open forum, so you don't have control over who your friends should be.
Besides, it helps to bring out the best/worst out of the members without them knowing.

How else can you tell whats really on your mind than doing it anonymously. In my opinion most of the people that regularly spill bile on here are cowards. Imagine a person like OnlyTruth had to put his face up here, you think he'd say half the rubbish he says all the time?

Its just a means for cowards to express their inner hatred, thats all.

FXKing2012:

There is no difference; they are all ways of socializing. So they all fall under social networking sites.

No, they don't. If you do a Google search for "message boards" (i.e. sites just like Nairaland), you will come to see the exact same thing there, that you see here. That is because message boards are not social networking sites. So, whereas social networking sites require their users to use 'real names', message boards only require the members to register with a simple 'fake name' (username).

Deeper philosophical/ideological reasons could be put forth to explain this, but the above is the simplest and truest. There is an implicit organizational and structural difference between a "social networking site" and a "message board".

^^ true talk.
Another thing i noticed,there was a thread that sprang up last year asking people to come state their contributions to Nigeria. People did not show up as one would have expected.

Ofcourse we live in fear.

That is how a traditional board software is programmed. Quite different from social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook etc.

On forums, most times only one e-mail address is required per username. So, you can't have more than one user account with one e-mail address.