ESWN has translated an article from the Chinese media about the effect of real-name registration on Chinese cyberspace:
Prior to the real name system, Luojiashanshui and Beiyunhuanghe can have 10,000 people online at their peaks. After the real name system came into place, the popularity was less than before. Even after a recovery period, the average number of people online is about 1,000 people or so. At the Chinese University of Geosciences and the Central China Normal University, the average daily number of people online was only in the hundreds, or even just dozens sometimes.
The real name system also prohibited exchange between students and outsiders. In the past, some alumni as well as friends and relatives of the students often visit the BBS’s. Now, they are not allowed to use their voice, so many outside visitors have gone away. The communication between the university BBS’s was also affected, as the various BBS’s seemed to have become islands for communication only within the universities.
