Ok so my Google+ profile which has been in the name of Annie Infinite for at least 6 years now has been suspended because it doesn’t look like ‘real name’ REALLY?!? What about my friends Vickie Magic and Paul Blacksmith? Will they also be suspended? What’s a real name anyway? The name you got at birth without your permission or the one you have chosen and used for many years now?
Come on G+ give me back my name loads of people will verify that it’s me!!!!!!!!!!
Oh and since this started on Tuesday I have found more poor souls whose accounts have been suspended like Tom Hall, Richard Banks, and Hope Wall. Follow the saga in pictures below and then tell me if you think they are being unfair and risk losing a lot of credibility!
as you can see by the tagline under my reluctant use of my old married name, I am protesting!
Ok so I don’t have any really weird names, or characters just my name.
Sarah offers some hope with the words name by which you are commonly known BUT…
even after I supplied my business card in the name of Annie Infinite, my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and website ALL showing the name Annie Infinite as my name – it was rejected! Hmm….
So I have left this reply and request to see what will happen next… AND gave myself back my REAL name!
I’m back!
By the way Google Community Standards account reviewers if you would like a number of people to prove to you that the name I commonly use is Annie Infinite I can arrange for you to receive emails from everyone I know 
as proof!
It is my belief that this kind of action, although I know they are trying to prevent spamming, is going to damage G+ overall as more and more people who have “commonly used” names or legal names that use real words, (and I am not talking about odd usernames like WizardofOz etc..) have their profiles suspended and even with proof of common use have their appeals rejected.
Come on Google don’t make more mistakes with this! Get it right!
Related articles
- On Google+ And Traditional Aboriginal Names (gizmodo.com.au)
- Google is learning lessons from Google+ ‘fake names’ debacle (thenextweb.com)
- Write Your Own Google+ Outrage Story (blogs.wsj.com)
- Google+ enforces real names rule but is it really necessary? (liberatemedia.com)
- Google works to soothe users over real name controversy (infoworld.com)
Annie Infinite
Hi I'm Annie Infinite - I love the internet and all it's digital media have been online for many years, joined Facebook just 4 months after it went public, Twitter had only 500 people on it when I signed up, basically I am a walking encyclopedia of digital and social media just ask anyone. I help people find their authentic voice and project it out into the world with integrity, passion and authenticity. I am an Event Promotions Strategist and I strategise, manage and train business owners just like you to use digital and social media intelligently. I am the Digital Media Sourceress of Oz and Goddess of Geek lol. About Annie Infinite2 Responses to “Google Plus Real Names Fail”
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Wow – whats next? Its a bit like big brother controlling our lives!! Fingers crossed its all sorted asap.
Cheers
Lisa
It is isn’t it Lisa, hopefully they won’t suspend my profile again now that I have put it back
we’ll just have to see what happens next I guess. My reading tells me that so many people were outraged that Google may be rethinking things lol @lisawsdream