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Google Plus Real Names Policy

This page contains links about the Google Plus (or more accurately, Google Profiles) Real Names/Common Names policy, its enforcement, and its integration with other Google products. For links about pseudonymity, autonymity, and anonymity more generally, see here.

(Note: I went on vacation in late-December, at which point I stopped maintaining this page. Google officially announced a revision of policy and practices on Jan 23. While the policy is still not perfect, it does appear to be changing in the right direction.)

• Arguments for and against the use of pseudonyms on Google Plus
• PCWorld: Google+ Is Everywhere--It's Creepy (2011-07-02)
• Randall Munroe (of xkcd) on requiring public gender (2011-07-07)
• thinq article on some early Google Plus account deletions (2011-07-08)
• Ex-Googler skud's blogs about her account suspension process (2011-07-22)
• change.org petition to allow pseudonymity on Google Plus (2011-07-22)
• Violet Blue on Google Plus account deletions (2011-07-23)
• Violet Blue's followup on proposed solutions (2011-07-24)
• Sai's detailed G+ post of issues with many links (2011-07-24)
• Public Google Profiles naming policy
• Robert Scoble's "no shirt" conversation with G+ manager Vic Gundotra (2011-07-24)
• G+ manager Bradley Horowitz's followup on account suspensions (2011-07-25)
• Kee Hinckley (nazgul) on reasons for (and against) pseudonymity (2011-07-27)
• guardian.co.uk publicizes the deactivation of GrrlScientist's account (2011-07-28)
• CNET: Google+ name policy 'frustrating,' Google confesses (2011-07-28)
• Kaliya Identity Woman on her Google Plus account suspension (2011-07-31)
• Denise (of Dreamwidth) on how Real Name policies don't work (2011-08-03)
• danah boyd on "Real Names" policies as an abuse of power (2011-08-04)
• guardian.co.uk on the pseudonym wars (2011-08-04)
• The Atlantic: Why Facebook and Google's Concept Of 'Real Names' Is Revolutionary (2011-08-05)
• PCWorld: Google+: The "Real Names" Debate (2011-08-07)
• Botgirl blogs about why it's important to turn the tide on Google's Real Names policy (2011-08-09)
• Gary Walker blogs about how easy it is to get a profile suspended (2011-08-09)
• G+ manager Saurabh Sharma announces a grace period for users to "fix" their names (2011-08-10)
• Social Media Collective: Response to "If you don't like it, don't use it." (2011-08-11)
• Gizmodo: Google's Real Names Policy Is Evil (2011-08-12)
• Google+ member Wen-Ai Yu announces verification badges on celebrity profiles (2011-08-19)
• Violet Blue, who uses her real name on Google+, receives notice that her profile will be suspended (2011-08-20)
• Robert Scoble declares "We need a different answer to the real names problem and we need it now" (2011-08-20)
• jwz (Jamie Zawinski) summarizes the state of the Nym Wars (2011-08-20)
• Ex-Googler Kevin Marks says "Google Plus must stop this Identity Theatre" (2011-08-20)
• Charlie (Charles) Stross on why he is not on Google Plus (2011-08-20)
• Bruce Schneier signal-boosts comments on pseudonymity (2011-08-22)
• Oxford Practical Ethics: How many identities are enough? (2011-08-22)
• Violet Blue on her account suspension drama and the "wake-up call" to move away from Google services (2011-08-23)
• InformationWeek: 5 Reasons Google+'s Name Policy Fails (2011-08-23)
• Video: Song a Day #966: Hey Google! Stop Being a Jerk (2011-08-23)
• Video: Tim O'Reilly interviews Bradley Horowitz (2011-08-23)
• Summary of interview between Bradley Horowitz and Tim O'Reilly (2011-08-23)
• What happens when Google+ cuts you off? (2011-08-23)
• Current Mom: Quick Thoughts on Parenting and Pseudonymity (2011-08-23)
• Evan Peterson's Nym Manifesto (2011-08-24)
• GigaOM: What Google still doesn't get about running an online community: transparency (2011-08-24)
• Video: Google's Eric Schmidt on the importance of becoming an identity service (2011-08-24)
• Todd Vierling on how Google's name policy impacts other services besides Google+ (2011-08-27)
• Andy Carvin (NPR) paraphrases Schmidt's statement that G+ was built primarily as an identity service (2011-08-27)
• Mashable: Eric Schmidt: If You Don't Want To Use Your Real Name, Don't Use Google+ (2011-08-28)
• HNN discussion on Eric Schimdt's comments (2011-08-28)
• SF Chronicle: Google+ Isn't Just a Social Network, It's An "Identity Service" (2011-08-28)
• Gawker: Watch Google Describe How It Can Exploit Your Name (2011-08-29)
• Podcast: ZDNet.com.au's Patch Monday with skud on Google's real names a real disaster (2011-08-29)
• GigaOM: It's official: Google wants to own your online identity -- with actual quotes from Eric Schmidt (2011-08-29)
• PCWorld: Why Google+ Really Wants You to Use Your Real Name (2011-08-29)
• Search Engine Watch: The Google+ Identity Service Project (2011-08-29)
• BusinessWeek: Google Confirms It Aims to Own Yor Online ID (2011-08-29)
• Forbes: Google's Eric Schmidt Says Plus Is An 'Identity Service' Not A Social Network (2011-08-29)
• Pete Cashmore at CNN: Why Google+ will never back down on real names (2011-08-29)
• Google Watch - Google+ is an Identity Service, Stupid (2011-08-29)
• The Atlantic Wire: Google Wants to Own Your Identity (2011-08-29)
• MSNBC Technolog: If Google+ is an 'identity service,' what's Facebook? (2011-08-29)
• Crickey: Google+ is a goddam Trojan horse (2011-08-30)
• Andy Carvin shares the actual transcript of Eric Schmidt's comments (2011-08-30)
• Thomas Monopoly: Response to Eric Schmidt's comments (2011-08-30)
• Cory Doctrow at guardian.co.uk: Google Plus forces us to discuss identity (2011-08-30)
• Alan Bostick posts about how on the Internet no one knows that you're a woman, black, gay, a socialist, etc. (2011-08-30)
• Todd Vierling: Why the Google Profiles (or any) "Real Name" Policy is Important to Me (2011-08-30)
• The Register: Google's anonymity ban defied by Thomas Jefferson (2011-08-30)
• Search Engine Watch: Real Names: Google+, Government & The Identity Ecosystem (2011-09-01)
• Bob Blakley: Google+ Can Be a Social Network Or The Name Police - Not Both (2011-09-01)
• Google+ Refugees // a nymwars refugee asylum (2011-09-01)
• NetPolitik: Nymwars: Parsing the Signal (2011-09-01)
• PCMag.com: Who Deserves to be a Google Plus Suggested User? (2011-09-04)
• CNN: Why not everyone wants to be a G+ celebrity (2011-09-05)
• The New York Times: Naming Names on the Internet (2011-09-05)
• Fran's Computer Services' Blog: A wave out to all my Google+ friends (2011-09-05)
• The Sydney Morning Herald: Give social media giants your real name or say goodbye to your friends (2011-09-06)
• MIT Technology Review: A simpler Approach to Online Identity (Account Chooser) (2011-09-06)
• Tim Libert: The Cost of Lunch: Google & Information Revenue (2011-09-06)
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The name game (2011-09-08)
• ExtremeTech: Google's Wild West days are over (2011-09-08)
• ZDNet: Google+, Real Names, and Groklaw's Pamela Jones (2011-09-12)
• The Moderate Voice: Google+ As An Identity Service is Bait-and-Switch (2011-09-18)
• Mashable: Google+: Why the Real Name Policy Is Creating a Very Boring Social Network (2011-09-19)
• TIME: Google+'s Real-Name Policy: Identity vs. Anonymity (2011-09-22)
• Naked Security: Google Plus opens to everyone - but do you still want to join? (2011-09-22)
• loxocele: My Letter to Google: Why I Deleted G+ and my Google Profile (2011-09-23)
• Kee Hinckley (nazgul) on Google hiding their "real names" requirement from new users (2011-09-23)
• Video (with transcript): Kathy Sierra on how "Real Names" are not the answer to bad behavior online (2011-09-26)
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation: What's in a name? (2011-09-27)
• Wired: Inside Google Plus (2011-09-27)
• Audio (with transcript): NPR: Who Are You Really? Activists Fight for Pseudonyms (2011-09-28)
• Fortune: Why Google+ Needs Pseudonyms (2011-10-04)
• Larry Page: Google's 2011Q3 earnings remarks, including "baking identity and sharing into all of our products" (2011-10-13)
• Bradley Horowitz announces the retirement of Google Buzz (2011-10-14)
• Technology Spectator: The big minus for Google+ (2011-10-18)
• Network World: 4Chan Founder Moot Cherishes Choices: 'Facebook and Google Do Identity Wrong' (2011-10-18)
• Video: Vic Gundotra and Sergey Brin at Web 2.0 (2011-10-20)
• Huffington Post: Google Social Chief Vic Gundotra Knocks Facebook's Approach To Sharing (2011-10-19)
• All Things D: Google+ Will Allow Pseudonyms ... Soon. (2011-10-19)
• The Next Web: "Every thought in your head doesn't come out of your mouth" (2011-10-19)
• EFF: Victory! Google Surrenders in the Nymwars (2011-10-19)
• jwz: EFF declares premature victory in Nymwars (2011-10-19)
• arstechnica: Google shifts stance on Google+ anonymity, will support pseudonyms (2011-10-20)
• Jon Pincus' collection of links on "was EFF's declaration of victory in the #nymwars premature?" (2011-10-20)
• Official Google Reader Blog: Upcoming changes to Reader (2011-10-20)
• Alan Green: Upcoming changes to Reader (2011-10-20)
• amirhm.com: Why Google reader (Gooder) matters for us (Iranian) (2011-10-22)
• WSJ: Google Agrees to FTC Settlement Ordering Privacy Program (2011-10-24)
• Official Buzz from Blogger: Use your Google+ profile with your Blogger blogs (2011-10-24)
• BitShare on Tumblr: Google contradicts itself with Blogger and Google Plus integration (2011-10-25)
• TechCrunch: Iranians Upset Over Google Reader Changes (2011-10-25)
• DCist: We Are The ... Whatever Percent Who Use Google Reader (2011-10-26)
• TBD: Occupy Google Reader: A report from the protest's front lines (2011-10-27)
• PCWorld: Privacy a Concern as Gogle Links Plus With Its Other Sites (2011-10-27)
• Mashable: Google Reader Backlash: 10,000 Users Sign Petition to Save Old Version (2011-10-27)
• Official Google Reader Blog: New in Reader: a fresh design, and Google+ sharing (2011-10-31)
• The Atlantic Wire: The Sharebros Are Building a Google Reader Replacement (2011-10-31)
• Brian Shih: Reader redesign: Terrible decision, or worst decision? (2011-10-31)
• Official Google Blog: Gmail and Contacts get better with Google+ (2011-12-08)
• MacWorld: Opinion: Why Google+ will become Google's only product (2011-12-13)
• PCWorld: Is Google's Big Bet on Google+ Too Risky? (2011-12-14)
• Natalie Villalobos: Choose who is allowed to comment on your public posts (2011-12-14)
• Bradley: Toward a more inclusive naming policy for Google+ (2012-01-23)
• Yonatan's followup on Bradley's post (2012-01-23)
• #nymwars on Twitter

This page contains links about the Google Plus (or more accurately, Google Profiles) Real Names/Common Names policy, its enforcement, and its integration with other Google products. For links about pseudonymity, autonymity, and anonymity more generally, see here.

(Last updated Dec 2011)