Facebook's real-name policy draws line at titles

Q. A year after I added a title to my Facebook name, I got a note from the social network saying I need to remove that unless I could confirm my identity by uploading a scan of my driver’s license. What’s their deal?

A. Facebook’s real-names policy, which requires users to list themselves by “the name they go by in everyday life,” is no secret. If people know you as “Arthur Dent,” you’re not supposed to rebrand yourself as “Zaphod Beeblebrox” on the social network.

But this user thought he was still complying with that dictate when he playfully added “Mssr.” — the longer of two possible abbreviations for “monsieur,” the French equivalent of “mister” — to his listed Facebook name.

A year or so later, Facebook told him otherwise. Somebody had complained about him bestowing that title upon himself, a notice informed him, and he had seven days to do one of three things: confirm his identity by sending in an image of his driver’s license, remove the title, or have his account blocked.

This user’s initial response: “non.” He was not enthused about sending in a picture of any government ID (although Facebook says it deletes those images after verifying somebody’s name and also advises users to first obscure any personal info after name and birth date), and he didn’t see the problem with adding a title that still left his name clear.

But Facebook’s real-names rule does, in fact, prohibit adding “Titles of any kind (ex: professional, religious)”: No Mr. or Mrs. Anything, no Sir This, no Dr. That.

Facing unyielding resistance, the user gave up — and reverted to a Facebook identity that consists of just his first two initials and his last name.

(I know those details map to this person’s real name because this guy’s gone by that version of his name online since the two of us were posting in the same D.C.-area Usenet newsgroups in the late 1990s. I have since met him in person and can confirm that he is not a bot.)

That’s the thing with a real-names policy: It can’t help but allow easy evasion when Facebook’s underlying mission is to “make the world more open and connected.” Requiring that people provide an ID before signing up would ensure no moniker monkey business, but it would also lead many people to connect on some other site.

And in some cases, requiring real names can leave people feeling marginalized or endangered.

Facebook had to liberalize the names policy last year after numerous complaints from, for instance, survivors of domestic violence and Native Americans who wanted to use their tribal names. It now allows people to explain their circumstances when challenged about their Facebook identity.

And other people will continue to challenge this rule to make themselves harder to find or to convey a political point. One friend, for example, goes by his first and middle name but leaves off the last one, while another has changed his first name to “Badhombre” in honor of one of Donald Trump’s pet names for Hispanic immigrants.

Meanwhile, as the Facebook comments next to this story will probably show soon enough, spammers continue to jump on the social network with completely fake identities. This is a problem that defies any 100 percent solution.

Rob Pegoraro is a tech writer based out of Washington, D.C. To submit a tech question, e-mail Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/robpegoraro.