You Are The Social Network

This week The Guardian weighed into the Google plus online anonymity stakes with two articles, one from Jemima Kiss on nym wars , where Marx Dudek seems to have found her way into the murky world of The Guardian’s comment is free section. The other post, from Krishnan Guru Murthy is about anonymity and online social networks. Both posts have some interesting opinions.

I’m not a fan of the real names policies of Facebook or Google, there are a myriad of reasons why telling people it’s sensible to post with their real name is bad advice, there seems to be some sort of attempt to say that it’s only people living under extremist regimes who should fear using their real name, but there are day to day events that make it a bad idea. One example is in the comments of Krishnan Guru Murthy’s post where someone talks of the BBC’s decision to close the Ouch! disability forum they had there, the boards are now closed for posting. The person commenting on The Guardian pointed out how there are some sensitive subjects raised there, that people would not want to post about using their real names, and yet they had a community there that helped people share information and support each other. This is however an example of why you don’t need to be a part of Facebook, Google + or Twitter to social network, although the BBC’s decision to close the board remains a disappointment to its former users.

Whereas comments about not using a site if you don’t like the rules are often annoying to those who disagree with the policy, it is sound advice. I don’t have a Facebook profile anymore because I don’t agree with their policies and I don’t have a Google + profile because I don’t agree with their policies. I do have a couple of Facebook pages. What concerns me more is that these policies will spread, the amount of information Facebook expect people to share by default is not sensible in my opinion, especially when it comes to minors, but also for adults too. This is partially why I found Randi Zuckerberg’s comments about online anonymity annoying. Real names, pseudonyms and anonymity are double edged swords.

Real names can help to lessen cyber bullying, but they also help with people being made targets. Pseudonyms can help prevent you being a target at a deeper level, but they can also be used for abuse and anonymity can be both good and bad, there are valid use cases for all three positions and this is why people should be encouraged to use the position they best see fit for themselves. The point is that if real names stop cyber bullying, why do education establishments have people browsing social networking sites for signs of cyber bullying? Real names don’t stop it, pseudonyms don’t stop it either. Good moderation, support and advice helps to stop cyber bullying.

The big social networking site with the best approach to all this is Twitter, on Twitter you do have the freedom to be whom you want to be, celebrities can verify themselves, other users can choose any reasonable name they want, it’s a much better concept than either Facebook or Google + but it’s not as feature rich0 and Twitter has its issues as exemplified by the spat between footballer Joey Barton and his employer, Newcastle United Football Club. Newcastle are now issuing a policy on what their players can say on Twitter, so if a Newcastle player now wants to complain on Twitter, he’ll have to do it under a pseudonym, where of course he won’t have anywhere near as much reach. This is the sort of social networking policy that many employers have introduced and if sites like The Guardian’s comment is free had Facebook comments installed, there would be less posts because plenty of nurses or Police Officers wouldn’t post criticism of their employer or the government under their real name for fear of losing their job and this is what concerns me most with these real name policies, they stifle freedom of expression, there’s no two ways about this.

Then we have the myth that real name policies actually work, those who want to maliciously use those sites will use fake names, those who want to use a pseudonym will use one because many can sound perfectly legitimate, the idea that everyone who signs up uses their real name is complete and utter bunkum but the malicious users are far more dangerous than someone who wants to use their Second Life avatar name. There is of course a massive gaping hole in the social networking market for a site that allows people to be whom they want to be, as I said earlier, Twitter has the most sensible policy on registrations but doesn’t have the same functionality as other sites, opportunity knocks for those who want to seize the day.

However, you still have the choice whether or not to use a site, if you want to extend your social network by using Google + or Facebook then fill your boots but just remember that it is your own social network you’re extending, you still have the power to decide what services you want to use, it’s your social network, not their social network, their services are merely an optional part of it and they thrive on being fed.