I don’t consider this blog pseudonymous.  My info is in the about page and anyone who e-mails me gets a response using my full name so I’m not really trying to hide anything as much as I’m following the example set by my favorite childhood blog/website (tomshardware  where Tom Pabst always posted simply as “Tom”).

At the same time I  understand why some people choose to be anonymous on the web and I support them in that choice.  Which is more than can be said for Google…

Google responded tonight to the widespread criticism of its controversial Real Names Policy. Some artists, abuse survivors, political activists in repressive countries and their advocates have argued vehemently against Google's requirement that Plus accounts be registered under real names. You could call it a "go by what you are known as in real life (don't worry Lady Gaga)" policy, too.

Tonight the Google Plus team responded to the extensive public conversation. Its decision? Instead of immediately suspending accounts that seem to violate the policy, and then letting users appeal, now Google will send warnings that users have 4 days to comply with the policy before they are suspended. In other words: the policy stays, the enforcement of it will just be slowed down.

Here’s Google’s own video response…

I’ve said this before and it’s even truer here: The Tech Field is dominated by people who, whether they intend to be or not, are elitists.  

People from Upper Middle Class backgrounds or higher who have never had to worry about losing a job.  To most of these people the worst thing that could happen to them economically is having to move in with their parents.  As such they don’t grasp the pressures everyone else has to deal with.  They believe the only reason to use a pseudonym is obstinacy. 

But Lower Middle Class and Poor people have to be cautious about the world.  They can’t go on social networks and say whatever they want because they have jobs they could lose and losing that job could mean ending up on the street.  Pseudonyms allow those people to participate on the web without having to live every day in fear of a co-worker stumbling onto their profile and disagreeing with something they said. 

You can’t claim this doesn’t happen.  The President of Harvard was forced to resign because he suggested, as one of many hypotheses as to why women are under represented in math and science departments, that women might have a lower aptitude than men in the aggregate.    Note he didn’t endorse this hypothesis as something he believes in and he presented scientific research he thought MIGHT support it.  So all he really did was make the audience aware of the claim and as a result he was forced to resign from Harvard AND lost his chance to be Secretary of the Treasury for the Obama administration.

Given that can you really expect an office clerk barely scrapping by at $14 an hour to speak freely on the Internet under his or her real name?  Of course not. 

It’s ludicrous to even suggest.  So whether Google is doing it on purpose or not the end result of their policy is elitism.  Keep the poor down while the rich get to bask in the glow of new technology.