3 ms·

The solution is to choose a "normal" pseudonym.

by pix64 10y ago

Senji 10y ago
Choose a Jewish name for added shenanigans.
- cloudjacker 10y ago
  Yeah I usually opt for some minority subculture to get past this stuff - ie facebook wouldnt interfere with the adjective middle name meme if you were black - or if that doesn't work I then guilt trip tech companies into being aware of minority group naming patterns, or if that doesnt work I tell them Ill call (or actually contact) washington post to give them the monthly reminder about how little perspective they get from other ethnic groups Its pretty successful But you can also just order fake ids on darknet for web site verifications
  - jrockway 10y ago
    I doubt you need an actual fake ID to get past social networking ID verification. A cell phone picture of your driver's license where you hamfistedly change the name and some digits in the number in Photoshop should be good enough for 99.9% of cases.
bambax 10y ago
Exactly. I use Quora very rarely but every time I choose a plain fake name and it has always worked with zero hassle. (I need a new one because many times I don't remember the other one or the password associated with it). The only thing "real name policies" do is annoy people with unusual names; they can't do anything against people using fake names on purpose.
- bunderbunder 10y ago
  I don't think they're designed to dissuade people from deliberately using fake names. They're designed to encourage people who causally use pseudonyms just for the fun of it to use their real name instead. The reason for that is just to have a better identification key to use when selling access to your data to advertisers. To put it bluntly, most these companies probably don't have any reason care if that process also makes their service a PITA for people who don't have names like Bob Smith. With very high probability, those people don't live in countries their customers are trying to target with ads. I just really can't buy that real name policies are meant to dissuade abuse. Not when you've got so many cases like Milo Yiannopulos being allowed to get away with chasing women all around the Internet under his real name, in accordance with real name policies, for such a long time.

The solution is to choose a "normal" pseudonym.

by pix64 10y ago

The solution is to choose a "normal" pseudonym.

Senji 10y ago

Choose a Jewish name for added shenanigans.

cloudjacker 10y ago
Yeah I usually opt for some minority subculture to get past this stuff - ie facebook wouldnt interfere with the adjective middle name meme if you were black - or if that doesn't work I then guilt trip tech companies into being aware of minority group naming patterns, or if that doesnt work I tell them Ill call (or actually contact) washington post to give them the monthly reminder about how little perspective they get from other ethnic groups Its pretty successful But you can also just order fake ids on darknet for web site verifications
- jrockway 10y ago
  I doubt you need an actual fake ID to get past social networking ID verification. A cell phone picture of your driver's license where you hamfistedly change the name and some digits in the number in Photoshop should be good enough for 99.9% of cases.

bambax 10y ago

Exactly. I use Quora very rarely but every time I choose a plain fake name and it has always worked with zero hassle. (I need a new one because many times I don't remember the other one or the password associated with it). The only thing "real name policies" do is annoy people with unusual names; they can't do anything against people using fake names on purpose.

bunderbunder 10y ago
I don't think they're designed to dissuade people from deliberately using fake names. They're designed to encourage people who causally use pseudonyms just for the fun of it to use their real name instead. The reason for that is just to have a better identification key to use when selling access to your data to advertisers. To put it bluntly, most these companies probably don't have any reason care if that process also makes their service a PITA for people who don't have names like Bob Smith. With very high probability, those people don't live in countries their customers are trying to target with ads. I just really can't buy that real name policies are meant to dissuade abuse. Not when you've got so many cases like Milo Yiannopulos being allowed to get away with chasing women all around the Internet under his real name, in accordance with real name policies, for such a long time.