Facebook and Pseudonyms

Excerpt from an article in The New York Times (The New York Times Company)
- Clipping Loc. 2817-45 | Added on Friday, February 17, 2012, 11:37 AM

New Facebook Policy on Made-Up Names Lets Gaga Be Gaga

By SOMINI SENGUPTA

SAN FRANCISCO — On Facebook, celebrity has its privileges — including the right to use a made-up name.

Facebook has been strict about pseudonyms, saying that its site is intended for real people using their real identities. The policy even applied to people like Stefani Germanotta and Calvin Broadus, otherwise known as Lady Gaga and Snoop Dogg. They were allowed to use their stage names on fan pages, but not on their personal accounts.

Now, in what could be a bid to attract more celebrities, Facebook on Thursday introduced a change that allows some users to go by their established, well-known pseudonyms on their personal Facebook pages.

Facebook staff will check that the page in question belongs to the Stefani Germanotta that the world knows as Lady Gaga, as part of a broader program to verify the identities of well-known people and weed out impostors.