Topic

Google+ and Psuedonyms

I haven't see any discussion of this here and wanted make sure those you use Google+ under your Glitch name, or who use Glitch as your surname are aware of this issue. (Disclaimer: In no way is this post a 'don't use G+' post - I love G+, and think it has so much potential.  Unfortunately G+ doesn't seem to love me. :-( )

Google+ have been suspending accounts that use pseudonyms, punctuation or generally don't conform to a very narrow, western idea of what a "proper name' is.  There has been vast amounts written about this in the past few weeks, both on G+ and off it, both from people who think being allowed to use pseudonyms will bring about the downfall of civilisation and from people who fear the exclusion or risk of harm to vulnerable people, but a really good starting point is Sai's post which has lots of links in it.

If your account is suspended, there is an appeals system, but they are currently requiring either government ID, or proof that you are known primarily by the name you wish to use.  I have no idea whether they would accept this site as a reference - some Second Lifers have been allowed to use their SL names, other haven't - so far there's not been a lot of consistency from Google, which is one of the most disappointing things about this whole mess.

Personally, although I love G+ and I'm really enjoying interacting with people there, I'm expecting my profile to be taken down - but I've been TheDivineGoat since 2003, and I refuse to change my name over there just due to G+'s short sightedness. If my profile does get taken down, I'll carry on posting over at thedivinegoat.dreamwidth.org, and would be delighted if anyone wanted to join me at a Glitch community I'm in the process of setting up there.  If anyone wants to join Dreamwidth, Denise gave me a an invite link for any Glitches interested  (normally joining requires an invite code) and I do recommend having a look at it - the more I found out about Stoot Barfield's ideas for Glitch the more similarities I noticed with Dreamwidth, business transparency and an idealogical dislike for advertising included. (Plus they have the most awesome Diversity Statement of any website ever. /Dreamwidth propaganda. ;-) )

Posted 17 months ago by Ama Gafr Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • There's an interesting article about the G+ names issue here

    "the requirement isn't about real names or legal names. Instead, "it is about having common names and removing people who spell their names in weird ways, like using upside-down characters, or who are using obviously fake names, like 'god' or worse."  
    (Personally I see no problem with someone being God. I've been friends with people named Jesus before, so what's wrong with a God?)
    Anyhow, it also says :
    "Google+ is working on a way to allow pseudonyms, though it will take some time before such a feature can be implemented"

    Sorry, article's a bit of a pain in the butt to read, as this lovely little advert thing goes right across the middle of the page (for me anyway) in both Chrome and FF. Whoever designed that should be splanked.
    but it's worth a read anyway, even if you have to copy and paste it into word to see all the article.  
    Posted 17 months ago by Ebil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Gosh, that is a really badly designed site.  I think it's quoting this post here, (and there's been an official post by Bradley Horowitz here). Neither which fill me with any reassurance that they properly understand the issues here.

    As a data point Preliminary Results of My Survey of Suspended Accounts by Scud, (Who is known personally to me by that name. ;-) )
    Posted 17 months ago by Ama Gafr Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just an FYI: Jesus is a very common legitimate boys'/men's name,and is used by many people in the States!
    Posted 17 months ago by ~Scilly~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ama-I have used my Glitch name as a name for G+. I am not sure if I will be taken down or not. The fact that my first name is a REAL first name may be a good thing and they may overlook me. If I do get removed, then I will not go back. It is not that big of a deal to me. I am enjoying the fun/sharing but I will just continue using these forums if I get removed from G+.
    Posted 17 months ago by Holly Waterfall Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I used my Glitch name (kind of): Rascalmom Glitch. Hasn't seemed to perturb them yet...
    Posted 17 months ago by RM Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I know ScillyGirl5 :)
    I just don't get why they say " like 'god' or worse."
    Is it bad to be God?  Is "God" who speaks to us in game so terrible? Well, he or she wouldn't be allowed a Google+ account. Seems odd to me.  I don't mind if someone wants to be upside down, call themselves 12345 or... anything really. Seems odd that G+ would get their knickers in a twist over people doing that and imply it's a bad thing.  

    It's interesting about the law breaking of forcing real names on Europeans. Hopefully Google will work faster on allowing pseudonyms. Would be interesting to see if any banned Europeans take them to court. 
    Posted 17 months ago by Ebil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • And yet, somehow, Amazon Prime has a G+ account.  (As my favorite commenter said, you know his brother, Optimus Prime.) 
    Posted 17 months ago by Lelu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Lelu LMAO
    Posted 17 months ago by Cerulean Subscriber! | Permalink
  • MY ACCOUNT GOT SUSPENDED!

    Google, I'm very dissapoint :(

    But I read somewhere that you can fight this by contacting the Google administration? Does anyone have more information on that?
    Posted 17 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Victoria - that really sucks, I don't know why they insist real names are used, what difference does it make to them? Well we aren't exactly G+ but you're always welcome at GlitchAddict.com - we have a social network there and you're encouraged to use your Glitch name!
    Posted 17 months ago by Morticia Addams Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I know it's a lost cause, but I'm trying to convince Google of letting me keep my name. Or else I might just start using my real name or something that sounds like a real name *sigh*
    Posted 17 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Victoria, are you in the European Union by any chance?

    You might find some good resources here - Real Name Debate Coverage
    Posted 17 months ago by Ama Gafr Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thank you Ama! This was the post I was looking for: https://plus.google.com/106055159954550860573/posts/jCTuez1Zu7j

    I'm in the EU and it's illegal for Google to force me into using my real name. They are breaking European privacy law.
    Posted 17 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • That's the tack I'm going to use (if and) when Google suspend my profile.
    Posted 17 months ago by Ama Gafr Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I asked them to review my profile again. Didn't change anything. According to their info, they will get back to me in 1 day via e-mail. I will keep you informed!
    Posted 17 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • On Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 9:01 PM, Google Profiles Support <profiles-support@google.com> wrote:
    Hi,

    Thank you for contacting us with regard to our review of the name you are
    trying to use in your Google Profile. After review of your appeal, we have
    determined that the name you want to use violates our Community Standards.
    You can review our name guidelines at
    http://www.google.com/support/+/bin/answer.py?answer=1228271

    If you edit your name to comply with our policies in the future, please
    respond to this email so that we can re-review your profile.

    Sincerely,

    The Google Profiles Support Team
    Posted 17 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • From the Community Standards:

    "Google services support three different types of use when it comes to your identity: unidentified, pseudonymous, identified. Google Profiles is a product that works best in the identified state. This way you can be certain you’re connecting with the right person, and others will have confidence knowing that there is someone real behind the profile they’re checking out. For this reason, Google Profiles requires you to use the name that you commonly go by in daily life."

    That's just stupid. I have 208 Glitchens in my Circles that all know me as Victoria. I went to Magic Rock school, live in Kajuu. So everyone is certain they connected with the right person and I'm sure you "have confidence knowing that there is someone real" behind my profile.

    According to the User Content and Conduct Policy the reason behind all this is "to help fight spam and prevent fake profiles".

    They require me to use my "full first and last name in a single language". That's against European privacy law.

    I will write a nice reply back and will keep you posted about the progress! But just in case it fails (and I think it will) I'm already thinking up a nice "real name". Since stoot is the creator of the Giants, who imagined me.... how does Victoria Barfield sound? ;)
    Posted 17 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • google+ just suspended my account. no more Coolbetty Cakes. i'm not happy. peachhhh has been my real online name for more than 15 years. but when i joined glitch coolbettycakes was born. I'm a graphic designer and am building a betty brand. so i am disappointed, but the reason this has happened is due to the predators, pedophiles, child porn and worse that hide behind a false identity. what sucks is the continued stripping of our privacy rights. rock and roll, oh well....  
    so not sure what name i'll use yet in google plus. but i did just buy www.coolbettycakes.com give me a day or two, then check me out.   :(   i has sad.
    Posted 17 months ago by coolbettycakes Subscriber! | Permalink
  • That is so sad coolbettycakes :(
    Are you going to try and fight it or are you going for a "proper sounding name"?
    Posted 17 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • hi. i'm considering your idea and becoming betty barfield.  seriously.  and probably a proper name too.
    Posted 17 months ago by coolbettycakes Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This is....intriguing.  I wonder how well they can keep privacy between the different circles etc.

    Anyone have an invite?
    Posted 17 months ago by Leimailu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • OMGWTFBBQ I got my profile back! How unexpected! Too bad, I was kind of looking forward to calling myself Victoria Barfield ;)

    On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 1:34 PM, Victoria Glitch <victoria.glitch@gmail.com> wrote:

    Short reply: I changed my name to "Victoria Glitch" (was: Victoria in Glitch), please let me know if that's acceptable.

    Long reply, including explanation:

    If I understand correctly my name does not comply with your policy because it's not my "full first and last name" that I "commonly go by in daily life"? And the reason behind this is 1) people would have "confidence knowing that there is someone real" behind my profile and 2) "to help fight spam and prevent fake profiles"?

    Because I go by the name Victoria in daily (online) life. No last name. I use G+ to interact with my friends from the game Glitch, that has a quite awesome community. Because G+ requires a last name I used "in Glitch" as a last name. Everyone in my circles plays that game and added me to their circles because they wanted to add Victoria. There's no confusion about my identity. I also don't sent spam, I assume you can see my updates and there really is no spam in there.

    I can understand that you may see this as a "fake profile", but have no way to verify that because you don't give a definition of what a fake profile is. I really want to continue using G+, I think it's a great platform and I enjoy interacting with my online friends in a more personal way. I already changed my name to "Victoria Glitch", maybe that suits the requirements? But I'm hesitant to give out my real name, especcialy my last name. I'm very aware of my personal online identity and try to keep it as clean as possible. I work as a highschool teacher so this is very important for me, that's why I use pseudonyms.

    Besides, I've been informed that it's against European privacy law so I shouldn't be forced to use my real name. But I'm sure you're aware of that and I'm really looking for a good solution here.

    Regards, Victoria


    On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 6:01 PM, Google Profiles Support <profiles-support@google.com> wrote:
    Hi Victoria,

    Thank you for contacting us with regard to the name you want to use with
    your Google Profile. After further review, we have determined that your
    name is within our Community Standards policy. Thank you for your patience
    while we reviewed your profile name.


    Sincerely,

    The Google Profiles Support Team
    Posted 17 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @leimailu   add me to your friends so you can im me your email. think about joining our stoot harem.
    Posted 17 months ago by coolbettycakes Subscriber! | Permalink
  • this is not my day.
    Posted 17 months ago by coolbettycakes Subscriber! | Permalink
  • What's wrong Betty?
    Posted 17 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @ victoria - sincere congratulations on saving your profile! i will give it a valiant attempt also, but the complication is in the nature of cbc not fitting google+ first name/last name protocol. and they want me to prove my first name is cool. now, i did consider legally changing it but that takes a couple of weeks.

    While homage to stoot comes in many forms (pig names), harem girls, i'm not sure what can replace my glitch coolbettycakes connection.
    Posted 17 months ago by coolbettycakes Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I see... that really is a problem. Maybe I was just lucky because my nickname here is an actual girlsname, but you could try the same approach that I did? Claiming all your G+ friends know you by the name coolbettycakes?

    It's not ideal but Betty Barfield sounds nice. Occupation: coolbettycakes. Something like that?
    Posted 17 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +100000 you are great. and cool. and sweet  <3
    Posted 17 months ago by coolbettycakes Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thank you :3
    Posted 17 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm new to G+. How do I join the Glitch circle?
    Posted 17 months ago by Widdershins Subscriber! | Permalink
  • widdershins, it doesn't work like that. There is no "Glitch circle" to join. Instead you create a circle, call it "Glitch" and add all your Glitchy friends to that circle! Circles are private.

    What's your G+ username?
    Posted 17 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Okay, thanks. Widdershins Glitch is my name, hope it sticks.
    Posted 17 months ago by Widdershins Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Betty-I see that Betty Barfield has stuck for now. If that becomes a problem then may I suggest Betty Coolcakes as an alternate. My name Holly Waterfall is being used both here and in G+ and has not come under review as of yet. Again, as Victoria said it could be because of the fn/ln standard and also because Holly is an actual girls name. I will keep you up to date if things change.
    Posted 16 months ago by Holly Waterfall Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well, I could always do a bypass I used on Facebook. My Glitch name would be: Sum Ran Dum Guy.

    But the age of aliases is gone. The more mainstream something is, the more you need your real name. I remember being taught during the days of Netscape on Win95, "Do not put your real information on the web."

    Now it's, "Use your real name or get out."
    Posted 16 months ago by Some_Random_Guy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Ama Gafr, thanks for your posts and the links in it!
    It made me click click click and read stuff for more then an hour. At work.
    I can justify it a bit though as I am quite interested in privacy online and am working in the IT bussiness.
    Didn't read all of it as it was too much, but it's just scary how much is known about people just by looking at their network, friends, and so many things are linked together, mostly via your e-mail.
    Posted 16 months ago by Miriamele Subscriber! | Permalink