I AM A NAME, not a number....

When I was in Junior High School (middle school for many of you) I had a friend that was learning the art of Tattoo. I thought it would be so cool to get a barcode tattooed on my arm. You know, like my Social Security Number or something... so uh... 1984, right? Well, fortunately, I realized how crazy an Idea that was before I ever did it and, now, knowing what I've learned about the Holocaust, I'm even more thankful I didn't know how to generate a bar code in 1984...

So anyway.... Today I saw a post about trolling on a message board and some strange series of switches and gears in my head turned and I suddenly wondered, "Why do people choose to be identified by numbers in usernames for email and messageboards and the like?"

Really. Why be John687? You would choose to be known as just one of 100s of Johns? Why not John_the_Number as something at least a little more identifying?

I know, silly questions and there are plenty of good answers and reasons, but it is a little weird to me.