I don't think it's for me. The truth is, I don't care. I see greater benefit to being known than unknown.
Interesting. So why are you anonymous then? Obviously you do care.
I think you'd have a harder time arguing why not being anonymous is any more advantageous than being anonymous. As you said, we're not really anonymous - we can contact each other via PM and find out much more if needed. But most of the time, it's not needed. I don't really care about your real name. I don't really care exactly where you live or who your relatives are, nor do I feel that those details are in any way relevant.
I also think we're much less anonymous than you think. Many people do post very specific details about their situation here. The only thing lacking really is the real name/location. I see very little to gain and very much to lose by posting those specifics. Again, at any rate, I just don't see how that information is relevant. How would posting specific information about your employer help the majority of the forum?
I never said anything about my employer, or that helping the forum. But my full-time employer is
https://www.fodderworks.net/. We manufacture sprouting systems that grow fresh feed for livestock. So if you're a mustachian farmer, it's probably a cool thing to check out. It saves money and has health benefits. You would never know this exists unless I mentioned it.
We also run several CNC lathes in our shop. (Although not mentioned anywhere online, we actually do MORE of that now than the other business.) We're actively looking for more work and have competitive prices. Mustachian business owner looking to cut manufacturing costs? Maybe we can help.
Other case in point, I own a business building/selling electric bikes and parts. Some people on this forum are interested in buying or asking questions about electric bikes. I'm happy to answer questions and occasionally post videos on Youtube about them.
So there you have 3 reasons why my "employer" or type of work could be beneficial, but those weren't even the main reasons for posting. I think ALL of us likely have unique thoughts or skills and we do share them for the most part. Occasionally however progress is stifled because something we do could give away our identity. I agree a lot of the time it's irrelevant, but on internet forums we often push too hard to remain anonymous, when someone who really wants to find your information can easily do so anyway.
Here's what REALLY got me thinking about this - License plates. People like to blur license plates in photos and videos, BUT there's NO reasonable reason why. You see the plates in public every day and it isn't a problem. That just spurred more thoughts and ideas and this thread.