4 ms·

I think the use of real names was identified as one of the reasons for Facebook's success[1], so they just copied that. [1] http://techcrunch.com/2008/12/17/my

• wmeredith 11y ago
  Cargo culting at its finest. Google is really smart about a lot of different things, but they know fuck-all about social. They were just going through the motions.
• reagency 11y ago
  Real Names policy was the brainchild of a 40-yr-old multi-millionare who was an expert in cultivating his personal brand and image, and knows not donsay anythig embarrassing online. Why would you care to use Google+ in any other way, he thought.
• protomyth 11y ago
  Facebook's lesson to Google should have been one of caution for forcing real names since Facebook is pathetic at telling if a name is real or not. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/16/facebook-real-name-policy-suspends-native-americans http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/16/facebook-r... Once again, if your verification of real names excludes a whole group's conventions, you have failed hard.
• IshKebab 11y ago
  Yeah they forgot that people only used real names on Facebook because it was extremely private (only people in your university could see you). Google+ on the other hand is full of public actions - Youtube comments, app reviews, etc.