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Facebook Tweaks Its "Real Names" Policy (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Facebook has announced a US-based trial of minor changes to its controversial process of name verification, apparently in response to last year's controversy over LGBT and transgender users who were penalized for determining their own identity.
The post about the changes reveals that users who report someone else for using a 'fake' name can now provide more background information, and that users who have been asked to confirm their identity by uploading documents, such as a passport or birth certificate, can now also provide additional background information for Facebook to take into account.
This article argues that a frivolous social network should not be allowed to co-opt government-level identity checks simply because it began life in the university arena, and has telescoped the necessary supervision of teenagers transiting to adulthood into a far wider and more diverse network of users.
The post about the changes reveals that users who report someone else for using a 'fake' name can now provide more background information, and that users who have been asked to confirm their identity by uploading documents, such as a passport or birth certificate, can now also provide additional background information for Facebook to take into account.
This article argues that a frivolous social network should not be allowed to co-opt government-level identity checks simply because it began life in the university arena, and has telescoped the necessary supervision of teenagers transiting to adulthood into a far wider and more diverse network of users.
is a disposition towards citizen identity that is usually only allowed to governments
I don't get this idea that doing this level of check is somehow a restricted right. No one is being forced to use facebook, if they want to require users send them a blood sample, their left tooth, and 5 million dollars to keep their account, I don't see how they shouldn't be "allowed" to demand this. At what points does facebook become something to which fair access to is governed by law (not snark, really curious.. I know there are laws regarding say, restricting access to a restaurant, so possible some of those apply?)
Personally I strongly dislike this recent trend of pushing the use of your real identity, especially with recent actual occurrences of people being harassed in real life due to online activities. It's one of the many reasons I choose not to use facebook (the other being I find whatever voodoo they do to recommend friends disturbing, I signed up with fake info awhile back and it started recommending people I actually did know from both family and work.. which honestly creeped me the fuck out). I don't feel like my rights are being violated though.
If their product is the users, you are attacking the heart of their business model by providing an incorrect name.
At long last, I can use my rightful name on my Facebook account.
Sincerely,
Seymore Butts
People use their real names online? I'm got numerous Facebook personas and there's fuck all anyone can do about it.
Facebook and Co. can eat a bag of dicks as far as I'm concerned.
passport? birth certificate?
facebook has zero need for any of that... such a bad idea.
When I first saw the title I read it as "Facebook Tweets ..." and I just about fell off my chair!!!
"This article argues that a frivolous social network should not be allowed to co-opt government-level identity checks simply because it began life in the university arena, and has telescoped the necessary supervision of teenagers transiting to adulthood into a far wider and more diverse network of users."
Just don't use Facebook. Problem solved. I did that and have never looked back.
but then maybe I'm already a suspect as some of my friends wonder about me why I look at an attractive woman, instead of checking out her bod, I wonder where did she got her dress, shoes, and who does her hair and makeup.
Yea. Facebook. Passport.
Mmmkay. Whatever.
Facebook would expect me to upload my birth certificate and/or passport to be used in their people catalog?
I guess I couldn't sign up for Facebook, because I'm a lesbian trapped in a man's body.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Their various spokespeople have been dancing around the truth behind this; but it's all about the advertising money. If your not using your real name, then they can't easily tie you back to whatever profiling system they use that pushes ads based on marketing databases. My theory is that many of the "complaints" that get accounts removed are coming from various companies who pay to advertise with Facebook; to them "fake accounts" are wasting their money. No corp gives a flying f*ck if your a victim of domestic abuse, a trans hiding from a beating, or even if your in the US's witness protection plan. To them, a fake name = wasted ads. The only reason Facebook is even addressing this is because of the social backlash.
everyone's getting excited about outing some LGBTQs, but i'm guessing there are many more couples sharing joint accounts with names like John Jane Doe. and then you have all the completely fake accounts that do nothing but spam. my guess is that if someone wants to use a fake name, the only way facebook is going to know about it and take some action is if some of their friends are jerks and turn them in.
There are a large number of people, even in the USA, who can honestly say that they have more than one real name. One of them is the name that they use in everyday life, the other is used for religious and/or cultural purposes. I'm one of them, and only one of my real names has a web presence. In the unlikely event that I were to get a Facebook account, guess which one I'd use.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
Papers please!
Please, your papers.
Once I legally become "Anonymous Coward", I'll disappear into decades of slashdot postings, and never be found by a computer again.
1. Go to the courthouse and buy a new name.
2. Register new FB account using your new official documents.
3. Go back to the courthouse and buy your old name back.
Worse case: Your county might make you keep the name "Shi'thead Omglol" for 30 days before you can change it again.
> determining their own identity
The above sentence means a brick fell onto someone's head and he/she lost memories from the impact, prompting the person to go on a journey to recover his/her identity. That has nothing to do with sexual deviations.
It is absurd to think that a dragster queer can determine his identity as a she, just by wearing female (and indecent at that) wardrobe. The identity is genetically encoded: male and female, occasionally a hermaphrodite, as well as caucasian, negro, redskin, semitic and mongoloid, etc. raciality. One cannot just define one-self as e.g. a woman or japanese, without genetical basis.
Don't use Facebook.
And on the Eighth Day, Man created God.
Regardless of the tweaks, facebook is still asking for government ID to be sent to them, which will link the pseudonym to a real person in a way that only the police could be interested in. Outside of financial transactions, I have no other online services which require such a thing. On slashdot, web forums, CB radio, or G+, I can be any handle. For this reason, I continue to ban Facebook from my online activities.