The Google Plus honeymoon is over.
On Saturday night I visited Google+ for the first time in a week to discover that I was about to be banned and have my account suspended from G+.
I was instructed to change my profile to comply with the Google+ “real name” policy - even though I am using my real name on the service.
My real name, they told me, was not my real name.
I couldn’t even imagine that a company where I have given two Tech Talks at their headquarters (one with 1.5 million YouTube views and counting) could be getting this so very wrong. Not to mention that if they looked, my name could be verified in Google Checkout data from my recent Google I/O attendee purchase. Among many other things.
I’m just saying, my identity footprint with this company is huge.
The G+ notice told me I had just over a day before being locked out. There was no option on the notice to explain that I was, in fact, already complying with the policy.
I was guilty until proven innocent.
When you get your account suspended on Google Plus, you lose Google Reader, your Google Profile (it is deleted from Google search) and any Picasa photos and photo albums.
Or more. A significant number of people still report experiencing a G+ account suspension bug that also locks them out of Gmail or causes problems with Gchat (though they state it will not happen). Gmail lockout was also reported in the first wave of Google+ account deletions.
Upset? You could say that. After writing three very visible, critical articles about Google Plus, it was a struggle to maintain an unbiased reaction.
Worse, I only found out because I visited Google Plus. I received no other notification.
If I had been off Google+ all weekend, I would have woken up Monday morning to my services being shut off and no idea what had happened or how to get them back.
Too much risk for a social network
So now I faced losing business services I not only used, but depend on as cornerstones for my livelihood.
Social networks are supposed to be fun, dammit.
I actually hadn’t been spending much time on Google Plus. Trolls have figured out how to game it, half of my friends and people I love to share with are gone over the real names issue, and its conservative Terms pose a significant hinderance to what I can share.
Additionally, a few trolls had joked a few weeks back about trying to find a reason to report my profile, and I figured it was just a matter of time until they made good on their threats. Being a veteran - nee expert - on getting griefed on social network sites, I could see that G+ was ripe for exploitation.
I thought that if I quietly mothballed my account, no one would bother me. I wouldn’t risk ending up with vital Google services in jeopardy because some power-tripping jerk hates girls that talk about sex, or LGBT issues, or just women, or me, or whatever. In fact, I was only copying friends that have done the same to stay safe.
The very same Saturday afternoon - before I got my G+ notice - the subject of publicly writing critically about Google+ had come up in a circle of tech friends I chat with. We were worried - and to a person, all of us depend on Google’s services, in one way or another.
