"rms" or "natesm", on the other hand, aren't the sort of thing that I'd want to see on Google+. You, as the recipient or the viewer, don't really get to decide

"rms" or "natesm", on the other hand, aren't the sort of thing that I'd want to see on Google+. You, as the recipient or the viewer, don't really get to decide how people would like themselves to be referred to. That doesn't really stop people from referring to others however they want to, which leads directly into... Similarly, I have Adium set up to display real names and real pictures instead of ugly AIM screen names. And that's most likely the best or real solution to all of this: allow people to change the labels they see for other people to something custom, which only they see. This actually mirrors how the real, non-Google+ world works.