Sometimes I just want to see what my friends are saying, not just icons all the time, so having a separate journal or using your examples/development journal for that is great.
Well, I think it's dependent upon how close you are with people. Also, there are some people that have the same names and are in the same games so that sometimes gets a little confusing. I'm not against people using my name, but I like my journal name too, and sometimes people might recognize a player faster by their journal or aim sn than by their first name.