Google Relaxes Google+ Restrictions: Fake Names Now Allowed

Google’s Plus service failed to take off in the social media world. For most people they only use Google+ because they were forced to, whether that was from YouTube integration of comments or by some other means. For people that did actually want to use it they were unhappy about being forced to use their real names, especially in a world where having privacy from your digital life is becoming increasingly desirable. Now Google is choosing to relax that restriction by allowing people to use fake names. Although, it does seem like a case of “too little, too late”. The fake names epidemic already got out of hand for Google when they forced Google+ onto YouTube, using an obviously fake name was people’s way of protesting against what Google was doing. Nevertheless the change will undoubtedly be welcomed in the Google+ community and if you have a Google+ account that uses your real name and you would like to be anonymous then you can now go back to it and change it.

“When we launched Google+ over three years ago, we had a lot of restrictions on what name you could use on your profile. This helped create a community made up of real people, but it also excluded a number of people who wanted to be part of it without using their real names… Today, we are taking the last step: there are no more restrictions on what name you can use.” Stated Google.

Source: Google

Image courtesy of Google