Google+ Verified Celebrity Profiles

So it seems Google+ has taken a leaf out of Twitter’s book and introduced a verification system to combat fake profiles posing as celebrities. If you check out Mark Zuckenberg’s profile for example (yes I am incredibly shocked it’s actually him!) then you will notice a little tick by the side of his name, hover over this and the tick will expand to reveal “verified name”.

Mark Zuckenberg on Google+

Mark seems happy about the new profile verification feature!

You may have already heard of instances in which people have not been able to use their real name because it has been considered a pseudonym or nickname by Google. It looks like Google want their social network to be a professional place as possible without the hassle of dealing with impersonation, they even state in the guidelines: “Impersonation is a serious issue. Pretending to be someone else could cause your profile to be deleted.” I personally think this is a good thing (despite people like the author Violet Blue having their profile deleted despite it actually being her real name) as we will no longer have to trawl through hundreds of fake celebrity profiles wondering which is the real one to add to our “follow” circle.

So what exactly IS Mark Zuckenberg doing on Google turf? Embracing Facebook’s death or spying out the competition?

…ideas anyone?


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