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[sei]

It's quicker to make up a name than to upload a video, but being able to port your online identity (post history, circle configuration, etc.) to a new account will be a pain in the ass, if it's even possible. Further, doing something so strongly overlapping a previous account's activity would be a huge signal of (what is from Google's current policy's perspective) abuse.

Do you think ban-dodging trolls spend a lot of time worrying about post history and circle subscription, though?

Of course not. Their current is-a-looks-like-a-real-name policy does fuck all to deter trolls. It interferes with legitimate users who don't want to share their real names.

I agree that it's analogous to DRM.

[Thad]

I see.  But even then, I don't think "Give us your real name and then you can use a pseudonym publicly" will deter many people with legitimate privacy concerns from using pseudonyms as their "real names".

[sei]

Yeah.

The ultimate question is what Google's angle is by not just saying "Fuck it, use whatever names you want," vs adding a technical layer of indeterminate purpose.

I could be misapprehending it, though; the time delay may be legal, not technical.

[Brentai]

I think it's more marketing than anything else.  "Everyone must use their real names!" must sound stupid to you, but it probably sounds pretty good to your mother.

[sei]

Can trusted recommendations to switch overcome Facebook's inertia?

[Bal]

I don't mind going by my real name on Google+, or anywhere else, for basically the same reasons as Thad. I have no reason to be worried about people finding out who I am. The other part of it, though, is that I have been going by Bal since 2000, and so much of my life has been online in those last eleven years that, in my own mind, I'm as much Bal as I am Daniel. So either they're both my real name, or they're both pseudonyms.

I sort of prefer the latter idea.

Forcing someone, in any setting other than on your social security card or state ID/driver's license, to use their currently legal name is not only silly, it's dangerous for many people. Would the Draw Muhammad Day artist have been forced into hiding if she were able to use a false name on the facebook page where it all started (she didn't organize the event)? Maybe, probably even, given how paper thin internet anonymity actually is, but she could have hid behind it for awhile at least. Maybe long enough for it to blow over and her life to not be ruined. (EDIT: A little bit more research shows this to be a bad example, because the cartoon suggesting the idea was not originally on facebook, however I think the point I'm making here is still valid)

moot (yeah, 4chan moot) is obviously a great proponent of anonymity, and has said, well, this:

Anonymity is a moot point

And I tend to agree with him. Particularly his point about all the personal shit people put online where in real life they'd never do the same thing.

In some ways I feel like this is almost a freedom of speech issue. I feel like the identity under which you express yourself is in many ways intrinsic to that expression. Like Kayin was saying, that O'Reilly fellow is just some dude, but Kayin made IWBTG. I think there is a valuable difference.

[Ocksi]

moot's fingers are long and creepy looking.

[Thad]

Can trusted recommendations to switch overcome Facebook's inertia?

It's a possibility.  Especially if those trusted recommendations come with a recognizable brand name.

Facebook managed to displace Myspace, and that was without having Google's resources.

So either they're both my real name, or they're both pseudonyms.

I sort of prefer the latter idea.

"I can fake a Picasso as well as anyone!" - Picasso

[Thad]

Google+ has a pseudonym policy.  It's not very good.

[Shinra]

So google has COMPLETELY missed the point.

[Thad]

Google's now trying to get YouTube commenters to use their real names.  This could be because people at Google still sincerely believe that this "realname" bullshit actually works, but more likely it's happening because everybody quit using Google+ after the first month and they're desperate for more users.

[Kayin]

Hilariously, this broke the "reply to post" button for a lot of people on youtube. The solution?

Delete you Google+.

[Shinra]

Google's now trying to get YouTube commenters to use their real names.  This could be because people at Google still sincerely believe that this "realname" bullshit actually works, but more likely it's happening because everybody quit using Google+ after the first month and they're desperate for more users.

Can't they just buy Facebook now that they're public and their stock tanked?

Do it google.
Eat the facebook.

edit: ok so Facebook is worth more total than I thought. I'm still going to pretend though. I would love Google+ if it had a userbase as big as facebook. :( The interface is so much less shitty