I have mixed feelings about this. I do see value in a reputation system, and I see how sock puppets can be used for fraud and manipulation. However I also value privacy, and my online behavior is very similar to what @crok described.

I hate all the obstacles being put into place to equate online identities with real world ID - even signing up on steemit [in general] requires another ID like facebook. Then there's the whole 2-factor identification requirement becoming more dominant. Time was you could easily create an anonymous email account, now it's much harder.

And as one posts, blogs, buys and spends time online anonymity pretty much goes out the window, as it becomes easier to profile who people are from their habits.

For those who think "I've got nothing to hide, I'm not doing anything criminal or that I care others know about" all I can say is you're ignorance may be bliss but all it takes to turn that bliss into a living hell is to become the object of a stalker, psychopath or someone that sees an advantage of using your real world identity. If or when that happens you will reflect on how you got into that situation and what you could've done to prevent all that turmoil. As @dantheman once said, once lost privacy is very difficult to regain. I bet he thought about that a lot in light of Satoshi Nakamoto and others who's real identity remains hidden.

Perhaps your need or desire for privacy is minimal now, but will that always be the case? If you give it away so freely now will you ever be able to get it back? Identity theft is real and very damaging. I believe people should think about that far more than they do.

I don't like the trends I see that impact freedom, and without privacy freedom is compromised. Yet I don't see the trend slowing down, I see it increasing. Will we all end up wearing totally transparent clothing too?