Some of the best, most meaningful and informative "social" participation I've had online has been with pseudonyms. And those people would not have been there if not for the pseudonyms.

(People shared their real names if and as there were ready, and one-to-one. I'm still in touch with many of them, a decade and more later.)

I'm not terribly interested in Google's (and Facebook's, et al.) seemingly self-serving "speculation" on this topic. I'll base my opinion, and decisions, on real experience.

Buzz. Wave. Get on the clue train, folks.