You can finally sign up to Google+ using a fake name
Change is afoot at Google+, where the policy of users having to sign up with their real names has finally been scrapped. From now on, members will be able to appear under pseudonyms.
The new rule has been introduced following the departure of Vic Gundotra, the man responsible for the social network's development.
Explaining the change of policy in a post on (where else) Google+, the company admits that while forcing people to use their real names 'helped create a community' it also 'excluded a number of people who wanted to be part of it without using their real names'.
In the past Google+ announcements have often been posted on the social network by a member of the Google team, but this latest announcement comes courtesy of a company account. Perhaps now the company is no longer forcing people to use their real names it has no qualms about posting anonymously either.
Google acknowledges that many people have been requesting the change for some time, although inevitably there are some people who have commented on the post saying that they would prefer Google to continue enforcing the real name rule. Some have expressed concern that it will encourage trolls to act out on the social network, but in the comments Google+ Chief Architect Yonatan Zunger has attempted to reassure users by saying: 'Oh, don't worry. One of the reasons this is safe to launch is that our troll-smashing department has gotten very good at their jobs.'
Google is fully aware though that the move will be good news to many. The policy and its determinedly rigorous enforcement has been highly controversial in the past -- particularly when it came to deeper integration between Google+ and YouTube. 'We know that our names policy has been unclear, and this has led to some unnecessarily difficult experiences for some of our users. For this we apologise, and we hope that today's change is a step toward making Google+ the welcoming and inclusive place that we want it to be.'
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