In yet another maneuver by a big internet company that takes away yet more privacy, YouTube is now, shall we say, strongly urging users to use their real name to comment with via their G+ accounts.
I’m not saying this is bad, but I’m not saying it’s good either. I suppose it depends on the application.
Sites like the Chicago Tribune recently did this concerning comments on their articles, and let me tell you, that place cleaned up quick after it was implemented.
However on places like traditional (classic?) internet forums, a real-name-only policy would kill it in short order.
Part of the reason why Google and Facebook insist on real names is because of money. Both think that for social to work, real names are required and that in turn is believed to be more profitable. Whether this is true or not I don’t know. What I do know is that if this trend continues, ultimately it will push more people away than it attracts.
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Anonymity allows people to say what they really think.