Google+'s Broken Name Policy - Again!

Terence Eden — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 08:25:48 +0000

Many years ago, I worked with a chap known only as D.C. That's how he introduced himself, that's how people referred to him, that was his name.

Eventually, I asked him what his real name was - and why he preferred "D.C."

He replied "David Copeland".

For those of you in America - imagine someone being named "Tim McVeigh", or "Ted Kaczynski"

I don't think that anyone seriously thought that he was the same person who committed those atrocities and, for all I know, he changed his name long before the bombings happened. But it can't be nice to have a name which reminds people of evil; not many babies are named Adolph these days.

All of which brings us to yet another misstep by Google+ and their "Real Names" policy. If you're on Google+, you can now have a personalised URL! How innovative.

It's almost a cliché to link to the seminal Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names - and yet here Google are engaging in so many basic misconceptions.

Let's go through some of the more obvious ones.

What if I get married? I assume 50% of Google+'s users are women who, statistically, are more likely to change their name after marriage. Is Maria Skłodowska never to be Marie Curie?
Supposing one of the other Terence Edens in the world goes and commits a horrible murder? Can I ever escape his shadow?
Perhaps I alter my name while going through gender transition?
I move country and want a name which fits in with their cultural norms - or their character set. Is that an impossible desire?
How about if I just want to change my name? 58,000 people in the UK did in 2011.

Finally, what if my name isn't how I choose to be identified? On nearly every social network I've been able to choose how I am identified and, as a rule, it's "edent". Google, in their arrogance, have decided that they know what name is best for me, what name people will understand and recognise, and that the name is unchanging.

And people wonder why I despise Google+.

Update

As some people have been kind enough to point out, if you're accessing Google+ on a desktop/laptop computer - you are able to set your custom URL. So much for building a mobile first culture at Google!

I requested https://plus.google.com/+edent - which is not available. Despite the fact that it 404s at the moment.

So, you can set your name - if Google approves it. Once Google has decided that's your name, you're stuck with it. Hope you didn't make any typos in the request!

nym – Terence Eden’s Blog

Google+'s Broken Name Policy - Again!

Update