More on Nymwars

[leora]

I think this post makes a really good point linkIt is discussing what probably will not work and what might. At first, it seemed like explaining the issue might work. That's been done. Now, the question is what can people practically do to try to fix this. And I do think fixing it is important. Google is big. Google is too big for a policy this bad

Comments

[fitfool]

I had no idea what nymwars referred to until I read most of that post. Once I heard that G+ wanted all real names and was disabling accounts, then I lost interest. I already had failed to see the point of yet another social network so it was easy to walk away. Interesting way to look at the problem -- that it's not just a matter of what Google does, it's about how we want to build online societies.

[kirinn]

Well, one good thing about multiple social networks is competition encouraging improvement. I think G+'s interface is in most respects a vast improvement over facebook's interfaces for doing the same things, and would be a lot more gung-ho about switching as much as possible over there if it weren't for this stupid names policy BS. (Not that FB's record is spotless either, so I find them kind of a wash at the moment, and am using them both more or less at random, which is admittedly less than ideal.)

[fitfool]

yeah...I'm already barely using FB so I suppose adding G+ wouldn't be too much effort if I used it as minimally as I use FB. But right now, I'm just reluctant to add another major online recreational activity. I spend enough time surfing LJ as it is. I hadn't paid much attention to the Names policy since FB says you're supposed to use real names too but I have a fake name there.

[pthalogreen]

it's about money. they get more money from advertisers if they have people's real names.

[leora]

I've heard this said, and maybe by creating the expectation of real names they will largely get legal names. But the way they are applying it, they don't seem to be encouraging that. They are suspending unusual names. They can't tell if your name is "real" or not if it isn't unusual. So, someone named Margaret Jones can put in Samantha Smith and not be suspended. They claim to be okay with nicknames, and so someone named Margaret Jones can put in Peggy Jones. They tend to suspend if someone named Margaret Jones goes by a less common nickname, so she risks suspension if she puts in The Jones, even if she is called it. I'm not clear how cases like Samantha Smith help them. It's potentially useful to have cases like Peggy Jones, but if Margaret Jones goes by The Jones, then it isn't obvious how Peggy Jones would be useful if she put it in The Jones wouldn't, because having a name that doesn't link to legal documentation and isn't what someone goes by seems less useful to me than one that someone goes by