On: Why Google cares if you use your real name

[mcantelon]

>They want it because it makes for a better social network.

Psueudoanonymous accounts certainly haven't made Twitter a worse social network. My stream would be considerably duller without them.

Ideally, Google should allow those who only want to interact with real named accounts to indicate this in their account settings. Filtering, not censorship, is in order.

[jonknee → mcantelon]

Considering all the bots and spam accounts that pollute twitter, I'm not sure if I agree.

[mcantelon → jonknee]

Yeah, you have a point. I'm willing to put up with the spam for getting to read anonymous viewpoints, but others my not be, so ideally it should be an option.

[icebraining → jonknee]

That's what I don't get: in a social network where you only receive updates from people you have subscribed, how can spammers affect the experience?

[jonknee → icebraining]

Twitter's @replies are a good example. Friend requests / follow updates are another.