So, here's the points I want to make, in order:
1) Persistent Pseudonymity is good in that it protects an individuals right to speak without fear of reprisal.
2) Pseudonymity is bad in that it reduces pressure on bad actors to not interfere with free speech. Especially in that if no one knows who's criticizing them, then there's nothing they can do, unless and until they identify a dissident, then all hell comes down.
3) Establishing a persistent identity, or reputation is key to quality interactions. People will naturally be more mindful of what they say when there are consequences. It's why you scream profanity at other drivers when the windows are rolled up in your car, but keep your cell phone handy to call 911 in case he heard you.
4) People are cowards. It's why they hide behind anonymity. It is easier to be "Deepthroat" than Aung San Suu Kyi, or Martin Luther, or Dr. Martin Luther King. The measure of a man is not what he supports when it's popular, or at the very least he won't face reprisal. The measure of a man is what he will stand up to to protect what he values.
5) Google has rights. They can create any social network in any style, and we are free to choose to use it or not. If others follow their precedent, then those other social networks are to blame, not Google.
6) Google is wrong. They should not be allowed to jeopardize their users' other services for a violation of the TOS of Google+. That is wrong, and a breach of their other services TOS. Any action or redress taken by Google in response to a violation of the Google+ TOS that harms a users ability to use other products not only damages their credibility with that user, but with all users. I have always been a staunch Google evangelist, but blind faith I will not follow. The specifics of their "Common Name" policy are a debacle. They must apologize. To all users, writ large.
7) Google is an organization comprised of people. Many of whom work their asses off everyday to, and I mean this in the least dramatic way possible, change the fucking world. Have we already forgotten the investments into alternative energy, self-driving cars, and Scrier Funds, LLLP. (Wait, they didn't invest in my company... Oh, well nevermind this point then, clearly nothing else they've done matters).
8) Virulence, ad hominem attacks, and demands, will get us nowhere. Address them. Engage them. Provide feedback in a manner that people will take seriously, and then maybe they won't write you off. I feel for all of you who have been disenfranchised form the use of your Google services. It's truly unfortunate.
9) I'd like to end this with a personal story. In late 2004, a few months after I had been assigned to Korea, the First Sergeant of my unit rotated out, and a new one rotated in. He was a bad man. He was a terrible leader, and an awful excuse for a soldier. He once told a group of junior enlisted soldiers, myself included, that the only reason he was our First Sergeant was because he had changed his MOS (Army job) so that he wouldn't get deployed to Iraq. He bragged about abusing the system, so that others could fight and die while he hid like a coward.
If that was the only thing he'd done, I'd have let it go. He threatened and cajolled, berating me when I refused to testify against my old roommate when he was going to be court-martialed for underage drinking. Not drinking on duty, not dereliction, simply drinking at a Christmas party. When I told him flatly to, and I quote "Go fuck yourself, First Sergeant," he told me then and there he would make an example out of me. First opportunity he got.
A year went by, and at a gathering of soldiers he said to a female junior enlisted soldier while he was drunk, that if she was looking for a promotion she should spend more time with him, and then put his arm around her and kissed her. She complained to her roommate, who happened to be one of my friends. When the Inspector General came to my brigade for their annual review, I was chosen to represent my unit. (It was not an honor). I was sent to sit through hours of presentations, followed by a 15 minute q&a where we were to air our gripes.
I stood up in front of the other 30 or so junior enlisted and began to relate the story of my overly friendly First Sergeant. The officer present cut me off, and told me to stay after the briefing, because I would need to file a report, and that those kinds of reports should be filed anonymously to protect soldiers from reprisal.
I laughed at the notion of protection from reprisal. For those of you who have served, you should understand the gallows humor there. For those of you who haven't the only protection from reprisal is not standing in front of the reprisor in the field. But when I was taken aside after the briefing, I filled out their forms, completed their interview, and initialed the box next to "Anonymity declined".
When asked if I was sure, I told them that every word I said was true, and I stood behind it, so there was no need to hide.
A few weeks later, my transfer out of Korea was halted by my First Sergeant, I was eventually arrested, and imprisoned in solitary confinement. It lasted a total of 5 days, because that is the maximum Nonjudicial Punishment allowed under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (technically 7, but I got time off for good behavior...even I have trouble causing problems in solitary).
Shortly after I was released, I was discharged. Just before my two year mark. I had no money saved up, no place to live, no job lined up, and had lost all my benefits.
I have fought the United States Department of the Army for almost 6 years now, through letters, applications, lawyers, and advocates. I have spent hundreds of hours, and lost tens of thousands of dollars (my GI Bill kicker was $50k to start, not counting two years of pay, and two false demotions, one of which was later overturned).
My DD214 (discharge papers) to this day still list my address as "General Delivery, Brooklyn, NY 11209".
All because I refused to check a box, and hide behind anonymity. My First Sergeant made an example of me. He called me out in front of formations, and told my unit he was making an example of me. Not one of them came forward with me to the IG to report him, all cited "fear of reprisal" or "not wanting to make waves".
These were some of the best and bravest men and women I've ever met. One had a Bronze Star with Valor device, another had served two tours, and been deployed 35 of the 36 months of his enlistment. So I understand why we as civilians sometimes fear being identified as a dissident.
But I also understand, I'd do it all again. I'd stand for what was right, without anonymity, and face the destruction of the life I had planned. I would do it unafraid.
Because when we let fear take control, when we stop fighting to make things better, and simply accept the easy way, we die a little bit, and those deaths add up, day in and day out, until there is nothing left of us but hollow shells performing the same routines with no joie de vivre, no passion. To quote my favorite movie:
"Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."
