Google+: Downgrading the universe

[baka_deshi]

On Tuesday, August 2nd, celebrity geek Wil Wheaton was trolled on Google+ by a number of jokesters pretending to be spambots. "cooooool . i like this post :)))) i circle u if u too", they proclaimed en masse, drowning out regular conversation and causing many users to report them as spammers. I joked on the thread with another confused geek that

Comments

[tamchronin]

I used Google+ for about a week and then deleted my profile for this reason. I answer equally to Tam or Mary...hell, in most cases I prefer Tam! For ten years I heard that name more often than the one my mother gave me, and I feel like it's more *me* because I picked it out.

I'm not going to protest except by abstaining. Google has more than enough of my real information already. If I want to use something like Facebook, like Twitter, and like a blog...I'll just use one of those, where I can decide for myself just how much of my real life information I want out there.

It was the combination of the real name plus the inability to make your profile private that killed it for me. I don't care if Google+ is hosting the party of the century. I *like* being able to decide for myself who has access to my personal life.