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Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

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111–120 of 266 posts

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#111
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People who are trying to disconnect their Facebook identity from their real world identity are not using Facebook the way it's meant to be used and should probably just leave it. Some people use their pseudonym (usually a nick name) in real life as well, except for work, and I think separating work from Facebook is exactly how Facebook should be used. (There's always LinkedIn for work...) Another thing I see a lot…

> Tellingly, my female FB friends are much more likely to obfuscate their names (and get blocked for it). This is the part of Facebook that's really creepy. As a guy who used to date around a lot, I was surprised by how well the "find user" function works. You connect with someone on Tinder, and meet up in real life. You have no friends in common, no digital connection other than a week-old Tinder conversation consis…

Could it be that she has searched for and found your FB profile before you searched for her?

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#112
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People who are trying to disconnect their Facebook identity from their real world identity are not using Facebook the way it's meant to be used and should probably just leave it. Some people use their pseudonym (usually a nick name) in real life as well, except for work, and I think separating work from Facebook is exactly how Facebook should be used. (There's always LinkedIn for work...) Another thing I see a lot…

> Tellingly, my female FB friends are much more likely to obfuscate their names (and get blocked for it). This is the part of Facebook that's really creepy. As a guy who used to date around a lot, I was surprised by how well the "find user" function works. You connect with someone on Tinder, and meet up in real life. You have no friends in common, no digital connection other than a week-old Tinder conversation consis…

[deleted]

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#113
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about people who don't want all of their real life relationships to be able to follow them online? For example, suppose someone has a restraining order against a stalker, so they don't want to be findable online. Does that mean they're "not using Facebook the way it's meant to be used and should probably just leave it"? Online interaction has very different affordances than off-line interaction (for example, the…

What about the people who do live single life, who do want their real-life relationships to follow them on-line? Why should we bow down and twist our system for the unfortunate minority that has a stalker problem? There are ways to deal with those that don't involve designing the entire experience around the special cases. So someone has a restraining order against a stalker. Then it should be enough for them to be a…

> What about the people who do live single life, who do want their real-life relationships to follow them on-line?

Then they just drumroll use their real name?

Heck, they could have even used a more easily recognizable nickname... before this policy, anyway.

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#114

I've only heard of the issue from the LGBTQ stance, and I'm not very clear here. But I'm wondering, for these people, why not just legally change your name?

Take for example Germany: Photocopying your ID is a crime, and changing your name is impossible (unless you get a court verdict that there is an actual need for you to change your name).

So Facebook’s Real Name policy forces me to get a court verdict and commit a crime? Great...

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#115
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about people who don't want all of their real life relationships to be able to follow them online? For example, suppose someone has a restraining order against a stalker, so they don't want to be findable online. Does that mean they're "not using Facebook the way it's meant to be used and should probably just leave it"? Online interaction has very different affordances than off-line interaction (for example, the…

What about the people who do live single life, who do want their real-life relationships to follow them on-line? Why should we bow down and twist our system for the unfortunate minority that has a stalker problem? There are ways to deal with those that don't involve designing the entire experience around the special cases. So someone has a restraining order against a stalker. Then it should be enough for them to be a…

"What about the people who do live single life, who do want their real-life relationships to follow them on-line? Why should we bow down and twist our system for the unfortunate minority that has a stalker problem?"

How would allowing somebody to use a pseudonym prevent you (and any others who want their real-life relationships to follow them on-line) from continuing to use your real-world identities?

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#116
post #110
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see the problem. A friend request is hardly that threatening. If you don't accept his/her fb request, how can he/she bother you?

It's not about the friend request per se, it's about being able to find people. A large part of your FB profile is public. At the very least, I now know your last name. Maybe even your birthday. In a lot of cases, that's enough to perform some light identity theft. Or I can find your exact address. Or I can find out where you work, or just see all the places you like hanging out at and so on and so on. I don't want t…

There are privacy settings for all of this... it's not forced in any way. Take the 5 mins to setup everything and it all works.

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#117

I wish the EFF and others who are against using real names would at least acknowledge the drawbacks of pseudonyms and the proliferation of fake accounts and fake names which comes with them. The real name policy has huge benefits. I'm not constantly bombarded by fake friend requests like I am on Twitter, Skype, or any other platform which allows random usernames. Even more importantly, I can easily find the people in…

> People who are trying to disconnect their Facebook identity from their real world identity are not using Facebook the way it's meant to be used and should probably just leave it. Some people use their pseudonym (usually a nick name) in real life as well, except for work, and I think separating work from Facebook is exactly how Facebook should be used. (There's always LinkedIn for work...) Another thing I see a lot…

I hear this a lot but I dont get it - Facebook has some of the most robust privacy settings of any platform.

You can control exactly how much information you want the public and different groups to see. Also, most people who complain about public data are the ones who willingly share most of it in the first place without a care.

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#118
post #2

Isn't it kinda obvious the long game of facebook is to become the single globally mandated identity service? Governments will contract with them to maintain your official citizen ID records. Game over.

One of the investors in FB held a previous position at the CIA's investment company.

https://www.corbettreport.com/meet-in-q-tel-the-cias-venture...

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#119
post #9

I use Facebook as a developer using a completely fake but real looking identity. I have to have a developer account because of my job. Otherwise I wouldn't touch the site with someone else's bargepole. Thank you http://www.fakenamegenerator.com If that account gets blocked then I'll just have to create another fake one.

Why not create a second account for work under your real name?

Re: Global coalition to Facebook: “Authentic names” are dangerous for your users

#120

I hate Facebook, but I think they are right about this policy. If you're a person at risk due to many of the issues described here, you don't belong on Facebook. If you're a domestic violence victim avoiding a dangerous person "liking" the wrong thing or somebody's innocent repost can put you in danger, pseudonym or not. The transgender situation is similarly tragic, but it's an issue that trans people run into when…

I'm stunned by the defenders of this policy I'm seeing here. Not singling you out in particular this is for everyone who doesn't seem to get it due to youth, lack of experience, very privileged life, complete inability to empathise, I'm not sure what exactly in each case but it's ugly at times and Hacker News seems to be ground zero for a lot of this stuff. I suspect like many things I see on here there is a huge lac…

> defenders of

> everyone who doesn't seem to get it due to youth, lack of experience, very privileged life, complete inability to empathise

> huge lack of life experience informing opinions

> immature opinions

That comment was very mature.

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