This study investigates whether the use of pseudonyms mitigates gender-based differences of communication patterns in a computer-mediated communication (CMC) context. Mixed-gender groups participated in an experiment which involved real-name and pseudonymous computer conferences. Consistent with expectations, it was found that i) participation levels were related to prior computer knowledge, ii) overall participation levels were significantly higher in the pseudonymous conference than in the real-name conference, iii) women tended to mask their gender with their pseudonym choice while males did not, iv) women generally tended to exhibit greater patterns of social interdependence than men, v) men showed greater tendency to exhibit communication patterns of social interdependence in the pseudonymous than in the real-name CMC context, and vi) men showed a lesser tendency than women to exhibit social interdependence in the real-name CMC context, though not in the pseudonymous CMC context.