Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Herd Instinct

Google's new policy of requiring real names in profiles clearly shows what direction Google is headed. While it is still possible to use a fake name (it's not like Google is demanding to see your ID. Yet.), the new policy is a problem for people who have legitimate reasons to use an obviously invalid name.

So, will this new policy slow down the migration to Google+? Of course not. The success of Facebook has already proven that people are willing to give up their privacy to be where everyone else is hanging out. Call it herd instinct.

For those that do not follow the herd, I provide a list of all distributed social network systems currently under development. For future reference.

3 comments:

  1. Scariest bit:

    "It's not like Google is demanding to see your ID. Yet."

    Great post. thanks for sharing.

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  2. I could be mistaken but I believe Google are reconsidering their "real name" policy.

    I'm still running quite happily under a very obvious fake name...no issues.

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  3. Part of the problem has been how inconsistently Google has applied the policy. But this is typical of the white monolith.

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