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Google+ starts a mysterious account shutdown
THE 'DON"T BE EVIL' internet search giant Google has earned itself a fresh wave of criticism by deleting a number of Plus social networking accounts without so much as a word.
Although many accounts shuffled away from the Google coil this weekend, the firm has declined to offer much information about why, only pausing to say that it had some difficult decisions to make about its services.
This won't help users, which include one ex-Googler, who are without access to their accounts.
Robert Scoble, who at one time dominated the Plus rankings, has spoken to Vic Gondutra, who is a VP at Google, about the problems with Google+ and has come to the conclusion that the frozen accounts were due to a push for high standards at the firm.
"I talked with Google VP Vic Gundotra tonight. He is reading everything we have written about names, and such. Both pro and con. He says he is making some tough choices and that he will be judged over time [based on] how those choices turn out," said Scoble.
"He says that he is trying to make sure a positive tone gets set here. Like when a restaurant doesn't allow people who aren't wearing shirts to enter. He says it isn't about real names. He says he isn't using his legal name here. He says, instead, it is about having common names and removing people who spell their names in weird ways, like using upside-down characters, or who are using obviously fake names, like 'god' or worse."
Although the firm went about shutting down Google+ accounts in the shadows, Gundotra said it will start being more open, and by this we read "less evil".
"He says they have made some mistakes while doing the first pass at this and they are learning," added Scoble. "He also says the team will change how they communicate with people. [That is], let them know what they are doing wrong." µ
Tags: Google
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They are indeed : learning just how far they can go before Eric Schmit has to go before the news guys and say something about how privacy is a quaint notion to take the attention off this issue.
SHOUTER IS RIGHT. Google and other "social networking" are selling YOU as the product.
And it's particularly worrying that Google is all of a sudden on a push to connect real names with accounts. This is the Big Brother tracking system being implemented right in front of your eyes. It's becoming impossible to avoid. Won't be long now before not just "social" accounts are deleted, but YOUR BANK RECORDS, and EVERY OTHER RECORD OF YOUR EXISTENCE! -- Read "1984" again, because it's HERE. You can be made an UNPERSON with just one click.
They deleted, what is for him, my friends 'life'. He's disabled and rarely is able to go outside... While yes, he has Facebook without a problem (though they too at first deleted him!) Google thinks he isn't a real person.
His name IS Tattboy Holden, but apparently, he doesn't actually exist or is fake? (he changed his name) As his Carer, it's made my life very hard. Utterly de-stablised his emotions... It's really amazing how such a thing can effect someone's life. Of course, a bit more of an issue when you're dealing with someone with a disability or impairment, I definitely wouldn't expect a person without such an impairment, to react like he has.
Goes to show just how people rely on such services in such a huge way, whether to give them a form of a life or organise their lives...
WHEN YOU CREATE A SO-CALLED "ONLINE EXISTENCE" ON SUCH CLOUD SERVICES, SOONER OR LATER YOU ARE GOING TO FIND OUT THAT YOU NO OWNERSHIP OVER SAID EXISTENCE NOR WILL YOU EVER ACTUALLY CONTROL IT.
IF YOU WANT ACCESS TO IT, IT WILL BE PROVIDED SO LONG AS THAT SERVES THE OWNER'S PURPOSES.
IF YOU WANT IT MODIFIED, IT WILL BE ALLOWED SO LONG AS THAT SERVES THE OWNER'S PURPOSES.
IF YOU WANT IT DELETED, YOU MAY ASK, BUT IT WILL OR WILL NOT BE DELETED DEPENDING ON WHAT THE OWNER NEEDS.
IF YOU DON'T WANT SOMEBODY ELSE ACCESSING OR MODIFYING OR EXPLOITING YOUR INFORMATION, YOU CAN MAKE A REQUEST BUT A DECISION WILL BE MADE BASED ON THE OWNER'S NEEDS.
"IF SOMETHING IS FREE, IT'S BECAUSE *YOU* ARE THE PRODUCT BEING SOLD".
WHAT, YOU DIDN'T KNOW HOW GOOGLE + FACEBOOK COULD BECOME MULTI-BAZILLIONAIRE ENTERPRISES BY CHARGING $0 FOR SERVICES?
I have the invite and set up my plus, and in doing so I concluded that this was like filing out a police report. They asked questions that they don't need to know about you. The problem right now is knowing if any of that is made intentionally (or accidentally) public. I don't think anyone needs to know my employer. I don't think anyone needs to know how to get a hold of me at home or at work. So, I filled out the basics and will leave the rest for the world to discover the insecurities of making giving Google that information.
I noticed that filling in things like my status, or commenting, chews up more CPU cycles, because on a mobile device the same tasks under Facebook do not drag my system the way g+ does.
I looked at uploading pictures and I'm not sure where they are going or what is going to be done with them by Google. I looked at the site that apparently holds the photos (picasa.google.com) and it indicates I have 1gb of space available and that if I want more I have to pay for more. Pictures are a big thing in Facebook. To charge for picture storage will hurt the system, and are they being shared with others? Are my copyrights secure?
Those are just a few things, but the layout looks decent. The "circles" thing may be nice if they weren't so confusing to a new user. All of it would be so much better if it wasn't so confusing. This coming from someone that uses these systems daily.
G+ may not initially kill Facebook, but it probably is the doom of MySpace.com.
Google+ could become GoogleMinus if the company screws up the brand trust issue. It was one big thing they had over Facebook. http://merriamassociates.com/2011/07/google-screws-up-the-brand-trust-equation/
This is why I haven't bothered with Google +. If they're going to just clandestinely close people's accounts without telling them why before hand, I'm not participating in this Google+ nonsense. Facebook works just fine for my social networking at this time and I'm reducing the time I waste on that too.