The issue of real name policies has come up many times before, most noticeably with Google+. From what I've seen, people tend to fall into these three camps (guess which one I fall into):
- I don't get it. Why does it matter. Just use your real name. It makes everything easier for the rest of us.
- I get it. Pseudonymity is important. But it's not worth the added noise / decreased quality on this site, so take it elsewhere.
- I get it. Pseudonymity is not only important, but something that should be freely available to anyone who wants to participate in this service. We all have different identities depending on context, and not everyone maps their legal name to all (or any) of their identities, so let's be sure to make room for those other identities too.
That's obviously an overgeneralization. But the response from camp #3 is definitely what caused Google to backtrack. It's interesting that Google's policy (only permitting your legal name or something close to it) was originally more draconian than Facebook's, who seem to only care that the name you use is the on people would know you by in "real life."
- I don't get it. Why does it matter. Just use your real name. It makes everything easier for the rest of us.
- I get it. Pseudonymity is important. But it's not worth the added noise / decreased quality on this site, so take it elsewhere.
- I get it. Pseudonymity is not only important, but something that should be freely available to anyone who wants to participate in this service. We all have different identities depending on context, and not everyone maps their legal name to all (or any) of their identities, so let's be sure to make room for those other identities too.
That's obviously an overgeneralization. But the response from camp #3 is definitely what caused Google to backtrack. It's interesting that Google's policy (only permitting your legal name or something close to it) was originally more draconian than Facebook's, who seem to only care that the name you use is the on people would know you by in "real life."