I am not a product.

I’d like to thank our host for giving me the chance to say my piece. I’m writing this stream of consciousness mostly. It may be a bit emotional.

Let me introduce myself. I am the Editor of the Gadget Wisdom Blog, among other things. It is a project of the Weneca Media Group. I am the host of a podcast called Android Buffet. This shameless self-promotion has a point.

I use the name Gadget Wisdom Guru, or just Gadget Wisdom, or GWG, etc. I use a variety of variants. These represent my activities. I am not ashamed of my given name. I’m not embarrassed by it. I’m not a dissident, an activist, or a criminal. I’m not a troll. I certainly offend people sometimes, but it is hardly intentional. You can’t go through life not offending anyone if you express an opinion about everything. But I try to be fair. As a blogger and podcaster, I try to subscribe to a code of ethics.

That said, open as I am, I choose not to associate my activities with my given name. I adopted a pseudonym. And I’ve worked hard to build it into something identifiable. It is amazing how things change. Before the current round of social media, most people online used a handle. Then, suddenly, it was inappropriate to not give your name, location, and dozens of other personal details to any complete stranger who searches for you. I sometimes regret the parts of my life I have opted to put online, but once you make that decision, it is irreversible.

I just did a Google search on my legal name. The Internet never forgets. And there are parts of my life I want to keep separate from other parts. Google seemed to get this with Google+. They created Circles. Because what I share with you online is different than what I share with my co-workers, my family, etc. The public me and the private me are different, and I want them to stay separate. I don’t understand how Google can understand one aspect of this problem and not the other. It is why I don’t get Facebook either.

I want to engage in dialogue and debate. I want to share. But remember, at the end of the day, sharing isn’t forced, it is fluid and natural. I shouldn’t have to agree to make anything or everything public to participate in a conversation. There are better community standards. My behavior is how I want to be judged in person and online. And, while I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, I believe I’ve been a good citizen of the Internet.

I am not abandoning Google. But they’ve made me much more reluctant to be open and free with tools they provide, because they’ve hit home how easily they can take away the services they provide, and how little the company that claims a slogan of Don’t Be Evil can instead decide to impose vague standards with no need to explain themselves. Most service providers reserve these rights, but few exercise them with the lack of customer service that Google does.

I applaud this site, and intend to not only use its advice, but contribute to it. Like many, I have been lax because of convenience. All of my data should not be lodged with one company, giving them the power to destroy all I have built. Building my identity online, and then letting Google has complete control of it makes no sense. Online identity should be like email. Anyone can host it.

Until recently, when I was accused of violating community standards that leave much to interpretation, I had created a gmail account for the sole purpose of using Google Plus. I created a profile, I added people to my Circles…I participated in the community and enjoyed the conversation. I was a part of a community. No one in my community complained about me. Yet I was told I had violated community standards.

It seems, this is Google’s playground, and we are all just playing in it. Google wants to be in social for money. We are customers. We provide them with eyes, with attention, which they profit off of. We can all take our business elsewhere, but I think we should also vote with the commodity Google cares about. Our attention…directed at them on this issue, lest they think that everything they do is acceptable.

James Reston said that all politics are based on the indifference of the majority. If enough people care, then things will change.

Thank you for your time. I will be back with some more practical posts, and look forward to other contributions.

Image from ClickFlashPhotos / Nicki Varkevisser on Flickr; used under a CC-BY 2.0 license. Available at Flickr.

Skud’s survey for suspended G+ users

Skud has posted preliminary results from her survey of Google Plus users whose accounts have been suspended.

If your Google Plus account has been suspended and you haven’t taken her survey, you can take it here; she has been making posts about the situation and is trying to understand it via the survey. As evidenced by her preliminary results blog post, she is sharing her findings.

The survey results thus far aren’t a huge surprise:

• She cites many respondents as justifying their use of synonyms for privacy and/or protection.
• Some respondents used an obvious nickname as part of their G+ profile name.
• Some respondents had legally-valid mononyms.
• Other respondents used pen names or names they go by professionally.
• Some respondents names were non-English but she said she didn’t receive many respondents in this category.

Read more at her preliminary survey results post.

Skud’s G+ account suspension experience

Skud is a well-known member of the Geek Feminism community and a former Google employee who found herself locked out of her Google plus account late last week. She logged into G+ and was informed “After reviewing your profile, we determined that the name you provided violates our Community Standards” even though, as she cites, their community standards says, “To help fight spam and prevent fake profiles, use the name your friends, family or co-workers usually call you.”

Further adding to the confusion, she was asked to (optionally) provide a photo of “Photo ID” that showed both her photo and name when filling out a form to reclaim her account. (See the screenshot she provided.) Since it was optional, she did not, as her common name is not on her photo ID. The reply she received was bewildering; someone named ‘Ricky’ at Google informed her, “We have reviewed your appeal and need more information in order to verify that the name entered Skud . is your common name.”

Ricky went on to request, “Please reply to this email with a copy of your government issued ID, which we will dispose of after review.” She replied to question this, and yesterday received another email from Ricky:

“After further review, we have determined that your name is within our Community Standards policy. Thank you for your patience while we reviewed your profile name.”

You’ll want to read her updated original blog post for all of the details, but she was essentially blocked again from her G+ account for ‘editing’ her name, which she did not do. Her name was kept as the ‘common name’ of ‘Skud’ that Google reviewed and eventually approved the whole time. Four days later, she is still awaiting her profile’s reactivation after being told her account was reviewed and found to be okay.

Skud has been posting updates to both her original blog post on the situation as well as her Twitter feed. An interesting post to the Twitter feed today shows her Google-issued visitor’s badge with her preferred name ‘Skud’ while she visited their offices for a lunch with old colleagues.

Read more

There are a number of posts on her blog related to the recent Google plus account shutdowns and privacy concerns with Google plus. They are all good reads: well-written and insightful. Here’s the rundown:

• I’ve been suspended from Google+
• More comments on Google+ and names
• Preliminary results of my survey of suspended Google+ accounts

Take the survey if you’ve been suspended!

Skud is keeping her survey of Google Plus users whose accounts have been suspended open, so please take it if you’ve been suspended!