More Google+

I've been watching all the web talk about Google+ and the recent decision that all Google+ accounts must have your real first and last name and gender for public display. (And here's the official word from Google.) I have zero problem with that personally, as my Facebook account has the same thing available for display to anyone. How are people supposed to find you if you aren't on there with your real name? If you don't want to be found, perhaps a social network isn't for you. There are many other ways to have a web presence (like... blogging!) where you can maintain your anonymity if you wish.

My problem is this: my public profile and full name soon being linked or displayed within other Google services. Blogger? YouTube? No thanks. See, the Google profile is a single thing across all Google products, including Google+. If you use their services, you probably have a Google profile, even if you don't use Google+.

If your profile is currently set to private, it will be deleted on July 31. It looks like right now you can use many Google services without having a Google profile, but I can't find definitive information on how long that will last. They are trying to connect all your Google activities together.

Want to see all the Google services you use and the information they have and may be displaying, depending on your settings? Go to http://google.com/dashboard. You may be surprised what is there. They have personal voice recognition information on Jeff from his using Google's voice-to-text service once. Freaky. Mine had nothing as interesting as that, but still showed a hidden family video I'd forgotten I had on YouTube, which I deleted, as well as forgotten private Picasa albums I've posted for friends to see photos from events, and that sort of thing. Just go look.

Google also notes that anyone who has the email address associated with your Google account may see a link to your Google profile. All sorts of people have my email address. Heck, all sorts of businesses have it. I have no idea who all of these entities are. How do I appropriately define my privacy settings in light of that?

It's just strange to me that everyone thinks the best thing about Google+ is that it's a slap in the face to Facebook with all FB's privacy issues. Well, there was evidently a big hoo-ha about Google Buzz earlier this year that shows Google isn't really any different. And Google says that "people in your Google+ circles are by default publicly displayed on the side of your profile." So at least in some places, the default privacy setting is open, not closed... just... like... Facebook.

In the end, Google has far more data about me and my web activities than Facebook does. If you're concerned primarily with privacy, Google+ should present a bigger concern than Facebook.

A funny thing- I was JUST saying this to Jeff yesterday... that at least for the moment, it seems that...

Google+ Users Are Nearly All Male

Go me! I had said that it's the whole "beta user" thing, which attracts guys (and techie-ish girls like me). Or like they say in the article...Early adopters of new technology are usually male. Yep! Looks like they've since changed the numbers to reflect about 35% women. Still.