Facebook: not funny

[flaviomatani]

This is getting beyond funny (which it never was). Another six friends have disappeared from my Facebook friends' list this morning, their profiles presumably deleted by the 'real name' FB police.

Comments

[djpsyche.livejournal.com]

No, it was never funny. WTF is with the real-name witch hunt? Don't they have anything better to do than piss off all their users?

[flavius-m.livejournal.com]

Not all their users, unfortunately. They could kick out a few million of us and still have enough people for their purposes: selling advertising and data collection.

[djpsyche.livejournal.com]

Well, they're pissing off all their users by blocking a percentage of those users, is what I meant.

[kruku.livejournal.com]

What are the other options? I'm presently checking out Diaspora.

[ninshubur.livejournal.com]

I think this is an angle that needs to be made much more public. Not only are people denied access to an extremely popular platform just because they are (for various reasons, some important, some probably less so) unwilling and/or unable to use their real name, but Facebook essentially also polices who the rest of the Facebook users can talk to on its platform.

If they would be seriously concerned about their "Safe environment with real names" stance they could simply offer an option to people to get their account verified and flag those accounts with a visible RealPerson (tm) badge and allow people to restrict their view of Facebook to RealPersons (tm). People who want to feel safe from "Unreal people" could do so with more conviction than they do now and the rest of us could happily get on with life.

As it stands they just invite bullying and randomly punish people who are honest enough to use unusual names instead of hiding in plain sight with a real sounding, yet fake name simply to be able to continue presenting to their costumers (i.e. not their users) a reassuring illusion of the "realness" of their user base.

[djpsyche.livejournal.com]

I don't see why they can't just verify that you're a real person and then let you use whatever name you want.
I thought last night that they might let me use the name I go by (this is how all their communications are worded -- not "real name", "the name you go by") -- but then they ask for ID, which does not show the name I go by.
Contemplating a Facebook-free existence.

[ninshubur.livejournal.com]

Because Facebook wants to maintain the illusion that there are only real people on their website (which for them means no people with funny names) and furthermore wants to push people whose name is their brand into using a page for self-promotion. The new wording of "name you go by" or "authentic name" is just window dressing because ultimately they always demand official id once your account is flagged for verification.

Somewhat bizarrely, somebody in my friend list has just been forced to open a new Facebook profile in her OLD name, even though she had changed her name by deed poll (and could therefore prove her ID), because Facebook deemed the profile under her proper name to be used in a primarily commercial manner and therefore converted it into a page which in turn forced her to create a new account in what is technically not her real name anymore because you obviously need a "normal" profile to administer a page.

[djpsyche.livejournal.com]

Oh FFS! But this is useful information anyway -- I'm considering changing my name by deed poll (then changing it back again), so Facebook will accept this documentation as proof of name?

[ninshubur.livejournal.com]

I have no idea whether the deed poll documentation itself suffices or whether you need an official form of ID that has been amended to show the name you changed to, although I suspect the latter. Anyway, Facebook could still decide to boot you or turn your profile into a page for some spurious reason if they like to. They don't have a legal obligation to provide you with their service and once a particular name has been flagged as suspicious and is deemed to be "not a real name" they seem to be very, very reluctant to allow anybody to use it in a profile, even if you present evidence that it is indeed used as your name on an official document.

diaspora

[sheridanwilde.livejournal.com]

Well-named.
Though I did check it out and they don't seem to be accepting incomers :-(