Google Chairman Outs Google+ as an Identity Service for Future Products
This weekend at the Edinburgh International TV Festival, Google discussed the impending launch of Google TV in the UK.
But when Google Chairman Eric Schmidt was probed by NPR’s Andy Carvin about the infamous real-name policy over at Google+, he explained that Google+ was meant to be an identity service.
Carvin wrote of the Q&A in a G+ post, “I asked him how Google justifies the policy given that real identities could put people at risk.”
The Google+ real-name policy requires all users to abandon pseudonyms and professional titles. Users are granted a four day grace period to provide their real names after being notified that they have violated G+ law. Unfortunately many uncommon names have been caught up in the mix– adding to the contention.
Although many users are not afraid to let the world know who they are, there are risks. In a survey of deleted accounts conducted by anti-real name policy activist, Kirrily “Skud” Robert, multiple individuals employed a pseudonym in order to keep their sexual orientation a secret from their family or co-workers. Furthermore a great deal of women hid behind pseudonyms from harassment and stalking.
The chairman, Eric Schmidt’s reply is paraphrased by Carvin in a Google+ post:
“He replied by saying that G+ was build primarily as an identity service, so fundamentally, it depends on people using their real names if they’re going to build future products that leverage that information.“
Google+ has been hailed as the messiah of social networks but as venture capitalist Fred Wilson mentioned in a blog post: “It begs the question of whom Google built this service for? You or them. And the answer to why you need to use your real name in the service is because they need you to.”
Regarding privacy concerns, Carvin gives us the gist of Schmidt’s reply:
“Regarding people who are concerned about their safety, he said G+ is completely optional. No one is forcing you to use it. It’s obvious for people at risk if they use their real names, they shouldn’t use G+”
“…He also said the internet would be better if we knew you were a real person rather than a dog or a fake person. Some people are just evil and we should be able to ID them and rank them downward.”
You can read the whole blog post, here.
Comment and let us know what you think of the Google+ Identity Service, especially if you have any idea of the kinds of products Google will be building with your information.
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Will it affect the growth of G+? Can I ask a slightly facetious question? Does G+ HAVE growth?
I gotta be honest. I realize everyone's perspective is different but -- for someone who doesn't actually make his living in providing social media tools/services -- I stopped hearing about G+ about three weeks after they launched.
I have 4,800 friends on FB and a mailing list of thousands.....but I only get 1-2 Goggle+ invitations/connections per WEEK.
I don't know anyone who uses it as their primary service and if they're using it for their secondary service, I'm not hearing about it.
Well, we have heard a couple of unsubstantiated rumors and believe me we are ready if they do. We already have GPlusEngine.com! =] So we will be sure to let you know as soon as we do. ~David
do you know of any plans for google+ to have fan pages like facebook?
Yeah I mean the majority on there are Silicon Valley types and Google did that on purpose. So the average Joe with 100 friends on Facebook and no interest in tech stuff will have a hard time finding people to circle. But it is growing and the tech world will keep it moving forward I think.. ~Scott
Also, its easy to explain the high interactions. The biggest complaint about Google+ is that it is boring and there aren't many people on there. So getting in on a marketing perspective now could be great but not last long. The people that are on there who are following aren't likely to have much activity going on, so of course they are going to want to interact, that is the only opportunity they are getting to test out the interaction features. If that makes sense ;-)
Only time will tell, but I think these folks will be moving back to their old haunts. =)
Kendall I'd be careful with those remarks. Some of the most well known folks out there are using it as their main form of communication and blogging. They still have their Twitter accounts, but their interactions are more than triple on Google+ than it is on Twitter.. So will be interesting to see how it plays out. ~Scott
Any marketing person who is using Google + only is someone I wouldn't be giving much credit to. I don't think they are using it exclusively because it is effective, they are using it exclusively hoping it takes off so they can be one of the "early adopters".
Tony, for the about 25 million already on the platform it is their only platform now. Many are ditching Twitter and Facebook (which I think is a bit foolish honestly). Alot of major marketers and tech guys are using it exclusively. Thinkers like Robert Scoble, Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan and etc. The conversation is much more engaging there than it is on Twitter or Facebook honestly. And you can control things alot easier. It has been the only platform I've seen where an open and easy conversation is able to happen so quickly and easily. ~Scott
Will it affect the growth of G+? Can I ask a slightly facetious question? Does G+ HAVE growth?
I gotta be honest. I realize everyone's perspective is different but -- for someone who doesn't actually make his living in providing social media tools/services -- I stopped hearing about G+ about three weeks after they launched.
I have 4,800 friends on FB and a mailing list of thousands.....but I only get 1-2 Goggle+ invitations/connections per WEEK.
I don't know anyone who uses it as their primary service and if they're using it for their secondary service, I'm not hearing about it.
Conversation from Facebook
Well, we have heard a couple of unsubstantiated rumors and believe me we are ready if they do. We already have GPlusEngine.com! =] So we will be sure to let you know as soon as we do. ~David
do you know of any plans for google+ to have fan pages like facebook?
Yeah I mean the majority on there are Silicon Valley types and Google did that on purpose. So the average Joe with 100 friends on Facebook and no interest in tech stuff will have a hard time finding people to circle. But it is growing and the tech world will keep it moving forward I think.. ~Scott
Also, its easy to explain the high interactions. The biggest complaint about Google+ is that it is boring and there aren't many people on there. So getting in on a marketing perspective now could be great but not last long. The people that are on there who are following aren't likely to have much activity going on, so of course they are going to want to interact, that is the only opportunity they are getting to test out the interaction features. If that makes sense ;-)
Only time will tell, but I think these folks will be moving back to their old haunts. =)
Kendall I'd be careful with those remarks. Some of the most well known folks out there are using it as their main form of communication and blogging. They still have their Twitter accounts, but their interactions are more than triple on Google+ than it is on Twitter.. So will be interesting to see how it plays out. ~Scott
Any marketing person who is using Google + only is someone I wouldn't be giving much credit to. I don't think they are using it exclusively because it is effective, they are using it exclusively hoping it takes off so they can be one of the "early adopters".
Tony, for the about 25 million already on the platform it is their only platform now. Many are ditching Twitter and Facebook (which I think is a bit foolish honestly). Alot of major marketers and tech guys are using it exclusively. Thinkers like Robert Scoble, Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan and etc. The conversation is much more engaging there than it is on Twitter or Facebook honestly. And you can control things alot easier. It has been the only platform I've seen where an open and easy conversation is able to happen so quickly and easily. ~Scott
Will it affect the growth of G+? Can I ask a slightly facetious question? Does G+ HAVE growth?
I gotta be honest. I realize everyone's perspective is different but -- for someone who doesn't actually make his living in providing social media tools/services -- I stopped hearing about G+ about three weeks after they launched.
I have 4,800 friends on FB and a mailing list of thousands.....but I only get 1-2 Goggle+ invitations/connections per WEEK.
I don't know anyone who uses it as their primary service and if they're using it for their secondary service, I'm not hearing about it.
[...] Chairman Eric Schmidt did an interview with NPR’s Andy Carvin discussing the real names policy on G+. Carvin told Bloomberg Businessweek the following; He (Eric) [...]