On Privacy and Requiring Real Names in Social Networking

[crossfire]

Why Facebook and Google's Concept of 'Real Names' Is Revolutionary
Should you have to use your real name online? It's an issue that's long simmered among social media critics and supporters alike. On one end of the spectrum, there's 4chan, where everything is anonymous. On the other, there are Facebook and Google Plus. Both have drawn fire from for

Comments

[chasingtides]

I don't use my legal name anywhere.

Using my preferred name on Facebook was one of the first big ways of coming out, for me.

[origamicage]

Your preferred name is your real name. :) Forget the legal crap!

[anjak_j]

This.

For years I was tied to a legal name I fucking despised and never used. Finally being able to change my name legally to the name I'd been using since I was ten years old was a relief. But I totally agree that the name you identify with best is your real name and fuck the legalities.

[splitcomplex]

This guy's take on it is bullshit. I especially like how he dismisses political dissidents risking arrest, children who shouldn't be giving out their real names on the Internet for any reason, and transgender people whose legal names may not match our genders as "edge cases".

[chasingtides]

It's not like we're real people.

[suzycat]

Yes, although he also makes an argument that privileged people can't ignore, which could have some strong benefits. There are people out there who don't CARE about all those other issues - they hate anyone "different" - but his argument makes it all about them.

The othering still sucks, but what he says is useful.

[splitcomplex]

Also, how have real-name policies ever benefitted online discourse?

Pretty sure most of these people have their real names on their accounts.

[othellia]

I just had to scroll down to the Spiderman ones, didn't I? D:

[yooperchild]

Facebook doesn't make you go by your real name though.....I have friends who put stuff like "Cooldizzle" as their last name and they still have a profile.

[namey]

They're not as strict as they used to be -- "The Facebook" was about as on that as G+ is currently, with a fine toothed comb. I'm guessing scale got the better of them more than anything.

[yooperchild]

I was part of the original The Facebook and I remember having to use my real name. I've been there forever and was surprised when people started showing up with stupid stuff.

[piratesswoop]

Yeah, same, I remember when you could only join with a college .edu email address or with a business email and you were sort of required to put your real name because of that. I'm pretty sure under-17s weren't even allowed on Facebook until about six months after I got mine.

[ohloverx]

My issue, and this is just one of many, is for people who may choose to go by a false name because they don't want certain people finding them (i.e. domestic abuse survivors and the like). Should a person who doesn't want to be found never be allowed to use social networking in any capacity? To me, that idea is ludicrous. A few years back I was found on MySpace by an ex who was abusive to me and I had moved away from. I remember that cold feeling of horror that ran down my spine and the stress and paranoia that I suffered for awhile afterward. Now I continue to go by my real name online and have not changed it, but I can understand why a person might want to hide their identity to, oh, I don't know, NOT BE FOUND while still being active online.

This whole thing is ridiculous. Let people go by whatever name they want, whether real or created.

[seasontoseason]

This. And, also, what about people who simply prefer not to have their every utterance searchable? The cases (domestic abuse survivors, for example) are obvious ones, there are obvious reasons why a domestic abuse survivor might not want her info to be easily found. But, also, I think people need to realize that some people may have non-obvious or even 'controversial' reasons for not wanting to be found online.... despite the fact that one's reasons may not be clear-cut (like fear of violence) or easily understood by others, it is a person's right (in my mind) to NOT have their every movement online be trackable or traceable back to them. It should be up to each person. I can't imagine what sort of authoritarian mind thinks only people using "official / legal names" have the right to use the internet.