In the latest nym war, Facebook changed award-winning novelist Salman Rushdie's name to his birth name -- which he has never used -- prompting him to express himself in the Twitterverse to make Facebook respond. And it worked.
"Have been trying to get somebody at Facebook to respond," Salman tweeted yesterday. "No luck. Am now hoping that ridicule by the Twitterverse will achieve what I can't."
Rushdie explained that Facebook initially deactivated his account because they didn't believe that was his true identity. Rushdie then had to send Facebook a photo of his passport page to which Facebook then insisted he use his first name, Ahmed.
"They have reactivated my FB page as 'Ahmed Rushdie,' in spite of the world knowing me as Salman," Salman tweeted. "Morons. @MarkZuckerbergF? Are you listening?"
Well, someone at Facebook definitely listened because they did let Salman change his name back.
“We apologize for the inconvenience this caused him,” Facebook said in a statement.
Google+, which opened to the public in September, initially had a fairly strict real-name policy but is starting to loosen up by making its atmosphere comfortable even with the use of pseudoynms, Vic Gundotra said at Web 2.0 in October.
For Salman, who spent many years in hiding after publishing the book "The Satanic Verses," this is a true victory.
“Facebook has always been based on a real-name culture,” Facebook VP of Public Policy Elliot Schrage told The New York Times. “We fundamentally believe this leads to greater accountability and a safer and more trusted environment for people who use the service.”
SCREEN SHOT
"Have been trying to get somebody at Facebook to respond," Salman tweeted yesterday. "No luck. Am now hoping that ridicule by the Twitterverse will achieve what I can't."
Rushdie explained that Facebook initially deactivated his account because they didn't believe that was his true identity. Rushdie then had to send Facebook a photo of his passport page to which Facebook then insisted he use his first name, Ahmed.
"They have reactivated my FB page as 'Ahmed Rushdie,' in spite of the world knowing me as Salman," Salman tweeted. "Morons. @MarkZuckerbergF? Are you listening?"
Well, someone at Facebook definitely listened because they did let Salman change his name back.
“We apologize for the inconvenience this caused him,” Facebook said in a statement.
Google+, which opened to the public in September, initially had a fairly strict real-name policy but is starting to loosen up by making its atmosphere comfortable even with the use of pseudoynms, Vic Gundotra said at Web 2.0 in October.
For Salman, who spent many years in hiding after publishing the book "The Satanic Verses," this is a true victory.
“Facebook has always been based on a real-name culture,” Facebook VP of Public Policy Elliot Schrage told The New York Times. “We fundamentally believe this leads to greater accountability and a safer and more trusted environment for people who use the service.”
SCREEN SHOT