Nymwars

Nymwars
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Nymwars is the name given to the conflicts over policies mandating that users of internet service identify using real names. They began in July 2011 when the social networking site Google+ began enforcing its real name only policy by suspending the accounts of users it felt were not following the policy. Pseudonyms, nicknames, and non-standard real names (for example, mononyms or names that include scripts from multiple languages) were suspended. The term is a neologism, coined from "pseudonym" and appears to have gained prominence as the hashtag "#nymwars" on Twitter.

The resulting discussions have raised many issues regarding naming, cultural sensitivity, public and private identity, privacy, and the role of social media in modern discourse. The debate has been covered widely in the press including Wired,[1] The Atlantic,[2] and The New York Times.[3]

Contents

Overview of events

Google Plus was launched in late June 2011. At the time of launch, the site's user content and conduct policy stated, "To help fight spam and prevent fake profiles, use the name your friends, family or co-workers usually call you."[4] Many users signed up using nicknames, handles, stage names, or other names by which they were commonly known, but which did not necessarily match the name on their government-issued ID.

The first suspensions for name-related reasons occurred in early July 2011, and included Second Life user Opensource Obscure[5] and student Rowan Thunder.[6] On July 22, Google+ began a large-scale suspension of accounts which did not meet its naming standards, including Limor Fried's account which included the name "LadyAda" (by which she is widely known), nerdcore rapper Doctor Popular, and LA Weekly and LA Times columnist A.V. Flox.[7] Account suspensions over the following weeks included those who were using nicknames, handles, and pseudonyms; those whose legal names were unusual, including mononymous users; and some users that Google believed were impersonating famous individuals, such as Facebook employee and Mozilla founder Blake Ross,[8] and actor William Shatner.[9]

Awareness of the issue grew rapidly, via Twitter, Google+ itself, and a variety of media outlets. By early August, the Electronic Frontier Foundation had posted "A Case for Pseudonymity" in response to the issue.[10]

Google initially responded on July 25, when Google VP Bradley Horowitz promised improvements to the suspension and enforcement process.[11] On August 17, they implemented a "grace period" before suspension,[12] and on August 19, a "verified account" program for celebrities and high-profile users.[13]

On October 19, at the Web 2.0 Summit, Google executive Vic Gundotra revealed that Google+ will begin supporting pseudonyms and other types of identity within a few months.[14]

In November, the issue spread beyond Google+: Facebook suspended Salman Rushdie's account, and then reinstated it under his little-used legal name, before backing down and restoring it to his preferred name.[15][16] At the same time, a statement from the United States Department of Justice raised fears that web users could face criminal prosecution for using pseudonyms.[16]

Google Policy

According to Google's official support page,

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
—Google+ Naming Policy[17]

Google offers support and assistance to anyone whose profile has been suspended, including an appeal process, and a referral to their Content Policy. If an account is suspended, users will not be able to access Google services that require active profiles, such as Buzz, Reader, and Picasa. They will, however, be able to access other Google services such as Gmail.

Google suggests that their naming policy may not be for everyone, and recommends if a user choses not to comply, to make a copy of their Google+ data, and leave.[18]

Google's stance

A Google support worker has stated:[19]

Google Profiles is a product that works best in the identified state. This way you can be certain you’re connecting with the right person, and others will have confidence knowing that there is someone real behind the profile they’re checking out. For this reason, Google Profiles requires you to use the name that you commonly go by in daily life.

In August 2011, Google CEO Eric Schmidt was quoted as stating that Google+ was intended as an identity management service more than as a social network, and that the use of real names would be necessary for other planned Google products based on this service. He also asserted that "the Internet will work better if people know that you're a real person rather than a fake person".[20]

Criticism

A number of high-profile commentators have publicly criticised Google's policies, including technologists Jamie Zawinski,[21] Kevin Marks,[22] and Robert Scoble[23] and organisations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation.[10]

Criticisms have been wide-ranging, for example:

  • The policy fails to acknowledge long-standing Internet culture and conventions.[10]
  • Using real names online can disadvantage or endanger some individuals, such as victims of violence or harassment.[24]
  • Using a pseudonym is different from anonymity, and a pseudonym used consistently denotes an “authentic personality.”[25]
  • Google's arguments fail to address the financial gain represented by connecting personal data to real-world identities.[26]
  • Google has inconsistently enforced their policy, especially by making exceptions for celebrities using pseudonyms and mononyms.[27]
  • The policy as stated is insufficient for preventing spam.

The German "Telemediengesetz" federal law makes anonymous access to online services a legal requirement.[28]

References

  1. ^ Tim Carmod (2011-07-26). "Google+ Identity Crisis: What’s at Stake With Real Names and Privacy". Epicenter. Wired.com. http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/07/google-plus-user-names/. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  2. ^ Alexis Madrigal (2011-08-05). "Why Facebook and Google's Concept of 'Real Names' Is Revolutionary". The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/08/why-facebook-and-googles-concept-of-real-names-is-revolutionary/243171/. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  3. ^ Pfanner, Eric (September 4, 2011), "Naming Names on the Internet", New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/05/technology/naming-names-on-the-internet.html .
  4. ^ "User Content and Conduct Policy". Google. Tue, 12 Jul 2011. http://www.google.com/intl/en/+/policy/content.html. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  5. ^ Opensource Obscure (2011-07-08). "My Google+ Profile has been suspended because I'm using my Second Life avatar identity". http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceobscure/5915226844/. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  6. ^ Rowan Thunder. "for posterity - Reflections". https://sites.google.com/site/rowanium/for-posterity. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  7. ^ Violet Blue (2011-07-23). "Google Plus Deleting Accounts En Masse: No Clear Answers". Pulp Tech. ZDNet. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/violetblue/google-plus-deleting-accounts-en-masse-no-clear-answers/567. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  8. ^ Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry (2011-08-04). "Google Banned Facebook Product Director Blake Ross From Google+ *". Businessinsider.com. http://www.businessinsider.com/google-plus-facebook-product-director-blake-ross-2011-8. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  9. ^ Leslie Horn (2011-07-18). "William Shatner's Profile Briefly Removed from Google+". PCMag.com. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388640,00.asp. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  10. ^ a b c Jillian York (2011-07-29). "A Case for Pseudonyms". Electronic Frontier Foundation. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/07/case-pseudonyms. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  11. ^ Bradley Horowitz (2011-07-26). "+Robert Scoble shared some information based on…". https://plus.google.com/113116318008017777871/posts/VJoZMS8zVqU. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  12. ^ Saurabh Sharma (2011-08-17). "Hi everyone, I'm Saurabh, a product manager on the Google+…". https://plus.google.com/109179785755319022525/posts/YcvRKqJeiZi. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  13. ^ Wen-Ai Yu (2011-08-19). "Not sure whether +Dolly Parton is actually that Dolly…". Plus.google.com. https://plus.google.com/103618543375127073102/posts/ZiXUSJQ3fGA. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  14. ^ "Victory! Google Surrenders in the Nymwars", Eva Galperin and Jillian C. York, Electronic Frontier Foundation, 19 October 2011
  15. ^ Tsukayama, Hayley (November 15, 2011), "Salman Rushdie wins name tiff with Facebook", Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/salman-rushdie-wins-name-tiff-with-facebook/2011/11/15/gIQA1ECaON_story.html?tid=pm_business_pop .
  16. ^ a b Swift, Mike (November 17, 2011), "'Nymwars' debate over online identity explodes", San Jose Mercury News, http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_19352047 .
  17. ^ Google. "Your Name and Google+ Profiles". http://www.google.com/support/plus/bin/answer.py?answer=1228271. Retrieved October 18, 2011. 
  18. ^ Google. "Your Name and Google+ Profiles". http://www.google.com/support/plus/bin/answer.py?answer=1228271. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
  19. ^ Natalie Villalobos. "Why is my name on my google profile "violating the community standard"? All I did was try to change my name!". http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/gmail/thread?tid=09855e7fbb13e027&hl=en#fid_09855e7fbb13e0270004a4215f0505a9. Retrieved 23 August 2011. 
  20. ^ Rosoff, Matt (August 28, 2011), "Google+ Isn't Just A Social Network, It's An "Identity Service"", San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/08/28/businessinsider-google-isnt-just-a-social-network-its-an-identity-service-2011-8.DTL .
  21. ^ Jamie Zawinski (2011-08-20). "Nym Wars". http://www.jwz.org/blog/2011/08/nym-wars/. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  22. ^ Kevin Marks (2011-08-20). "Epeus' epigone: Google Plus must stop this Identity Theatre". http://epeus.blogspot.com/2011/08/google-plus-must-stop-this-identity.html. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  23. ^ Robert Scoble (2011-08-20). "Several people have asked me to make this a real post so it…". https://plus.google.com/111091089527727420853/posts/XQKT1XkPBgi. Retrieved 2011-08-27. 
  24. ^ Alex "Skud" Bayley (2010-06-10). "Hacker News and Pseudonymity". GeekFeminism.org. http://geekfeminism.org/2010/06/10/hacker-news-and-pseudonymity/. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  25. ^ Martin Kaste (2011-09-28). "Who Are You, Really? Activists Fight for Pseudonyms". NPR.org. http://www.npr.org/2011/09/28/140879480/who-are-you-really-activists-fight-for-pseudonyms. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  26. ^ Myles Peterson (2011-10-04). "Brand Wars". CanberraTimes.com.au. http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/opinion/editorial/general/brand-wars/2312668.aspx?storypage=2. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  27. ^ Stilgherrian (2011-09-27). "Google+: What's In a Name?". ABC.net.au. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2943828.html. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 
  28. ^ Telemediengesetz §13.

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