The motives for using pseudonyms among users of social networking sites:

This study aimed to monitor and characterize the extent to which multiple accounts and pseudonymous are used on social media sites rather than real names to express the identity of social media users and identify the most prominent motives for using aliases in the digital environment. The study employed the Erving Goffman theory (1959) for self-presentation, and used the survey to collect data which was applied to a sample of 300 individuals from the Saudi society.
In its most important findings, the study found:
-       The study revealed the multiplicity of motives for the use of pseudonymous through social media platforms as participants indicated, the foremost of which is "anonymity" with a relative weight (23.7%), then "social pressures" motives, with relative weight (19.7%), and in third place, the reason for the "fear of the consequences of expressing opinion") comes with relative weight (19.3%), then "to avoid harassment and electronic harassment" with relative weight (19%), and finally " means of electronic fraud" relative weight (15.3%).
-       The study also noted that there are three types of societal pressures that influence the choice of respondents to use a pseudonym or multiple accounts;
-       The study indicated the extent to which the audience following the researchers influenced decisions to use their real or alias name for Saudi social media users;
-       In addition, the results demonstrated a statistically significant correlation to the rate of exposure of researchers to social networking sites and the freedom to express their personal opinions through these sites, where the value of the Pearson coefficient (0.117*) was at a moral level (0.044).