Given names or "Screen names" for futuristic story?

Writers' Corner
1

I’m working on a story set roughly 50 years into the future. Part of the premise is that the protagonist’s relationships are almost entirely online, without having met or interacted face-to-face with any of these friends. All their communication has been over the internet, but has included video chats, forums, messaging, e-mails, etc. The other characters in the story also have relationships carried out mostly online, but it’s clear that they have met these friends in person at least a few times.

The other characters refer to their primarily-online friends by given names: Ilsapeth, Gorsham, etc. (to give you an idea of the kinds of names I’ve been using in the story). I’m wondering whether to give the protagonist’s entirely- online friends given names as well, or whether to have her think of and refer to them by their screen names to sort of underscore the fact that these are people she only knows and interacts with online? She does not meet them in person over the course of the story, and they don’t play a huge role in the plot- these are definitely minor characters.

What do you think?

2

Unless the focus of narration shifts from your protagonist to any of these online friends, just identify them by their screennames. They’re minor, so they don’t merit formal names unless they play a pertinent role in the plot or forwarding action. If they’re minor enough, they don’t even get screennames, just a passing reference as another online personality.

3

I think from a reader’s point of view it would be easier to establish who’s who with screen names instead of actual names as it would contrast with the other characters that the protagonist has actually met and interacted with. However, if the protagonist and the online characters are close then it would be more realistic that they knew each other by first name. You could go either way and I think both work fine.
Screen names could be interesting to read as they often reveal a bit about people’s interests and personalities in real life.