In a surprising turn of events, it appears that Google will start letting users of Google+ have profiles for pseudonyms. Google has taken a very strict stance on this until now.
Vic Gundotra revealed at the Web 2.0 Summit that they’re going to support pseudonyms in the future. “We’re working on it, so it’s coming,” he said. “It was largely an issue of development priorities. It’s complicated to get this right. It’s complicated on multiple dimensions. One of the complications it’s complicated on is atmosphere. If you’re a woman and you post a photo and Captain Crunch or Dog Fart comments on it, it changes the atmosphere of the product.”
He says they wanted Google+ to be a product where you can discover people you know. “They’re not called Captain Crunch. They’re called Lisa Adams.”
“That doesn’t mean we’re not going to support other forms of identity coming, it’s just that this is the way we wanted to roll out the service. This is the atmosphere we wanted.”
For the record, you can currently find both a Dog Fart and a Captain Crunch on Google+:
Google+” src=”http://cdn.ientry.com/sites/webpronews/article_pics/captaincrunch.jpg” title=”Captain Crunch on Google+” class=”aligncenter” width=”616″ height=”325″ />
Editor’s Note: It’s Cap’n Crunch. Not “Captain”.
Currently, in the Google+ Help Center, Google says:
Google+ makes connecting with people on the web more like connecting with people in the real world. Because of this, it’s important to use your common name so that the people you want to connect with can find you. Your common name is the name your friends, family or co-workers usually call you. For example, if your legal name is Charles Jones Jr. but you normally use Chuck Jones or Junior Jones, any of these would be acceptable.
If you are unable to complete the Google+ sign-up flow, or your profile was suspended for a name-related issue, review our guidelines below.
It then instructs you to “use your full first and last name in a single language,” “put nicknames or pseudonyms in the Other Names field,” and “avoid unusual characters in your name.” It also says your profile and name must represent on individual, and that you shouldn’t use the name of another individual.
