Does Real Identity Matter for Networks?

Zuckerberg’s conviction in a single identity led him to require real names on Facebook. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, online identity was pseudonymous: on AOL Instant Messenger, you were soccergirl7 or doglover42. (I’m sorry to say that I was sexyrexy3617—a friend convinced me that it would be both funny and cool. It was neither.) By mandating... See more

Right now, and for the foreseeable future, follower graphs on centralized social networks are a source of significant and enduring value. We see in every dimension of our society how efficiently that influence can be translated into financial, political and cultural gain. So to ask our question another way: Will there be a time when most users’ on-... See more

Even that, though, suggests that the company can’t entirely escape its roots: having one identity is a core principle for Facebook, which is great for advertising if nothing else, but at odds with the desire of many to be different parts of themselves to different people in different contexts. Twitter, meanwhile, is unlikely to ever recover from it... See more