I tend to think it's something along that line of thinkin'....We know these people by name, and by the grace of the computer, can even see them, as well as find info about them....They don't know who we are, and this would be one way for them to identify that we're who we say we are.
At this point, I don't see any harm in it...I'm very interested in what they'll be sayin', that's for sure