A new verification system being rolled out by Google+ is made to help + users answer such questions and avoid falling victim to such nefarious schemes (or a minimum of feel confident adding people to their various friend Circles without fear associated with imposters).
As Google employee Wen-Ai Yu (that's who this entity claims to become, anyway) explains in a blog post, the + team is "focused upon verifying public figures, celebrities, and people who have been added to a lot of Circles, but we're working on expanding this to more folks. "
The user-facing the main system takes the form of "badges, " actually little checkmarks by a person's name on his / her + profile page. When users mouse over the checkmark, a small banner ad scrolls out, bearing the words "verified name. "
Yu doesn't explain the way the + team actually verifies the user's identity.
The use of real titles on social networks--as espoused by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and others--has sparked the debate involving, on the one hand, ideas about civility and accountability, and about the other, the very real need for anonymity on the part of politics activists, whistle-blowers, and others.
Recently, Facebook marketing director and Zuckerberg sibling Randi Zuckerberg talked in the real-name approach during a panel discussion on social media, saying that, among other activities, it could alleviate cyberbullying. The Electronic Frontier Foundation offered up a riposte upon its Deeplinks blog.
And Google+, which requires the use of real-world titles, has opened a new chapter in the controversy.