Fact or Fiction: Users need to use their Real Name on Facebook?

[Zenbane]

This discussion is aimed to assist those of you who are willing to link a Facebook Account with your Oculus VR account but may have some reservations and/or concerns.

It seems that there are three primary categories of users in this situation:

• Those who already use Facebook regularly, and have already connected it to your Oculus VR account.
• Those who do have a Facebook account, but would rather create a new alternate account to use for Oculus VR.
• Those who do not have a Facebook account, and are willing to create one for Oculus VR but have privacy concerns.

Obviously, people in the first category have next to nothing to worry about in this situation. All of this is just... business as usual.

While people in the second category may be concerned that an alternate account with be deactivated/deleted/banned. and people in the third category might not want to use their real names, but are also concerned that it would result in an account closure.

For starters, here is the official policy around Facebook's Community Standards:
https://www.facebook.com/help/975828035803295

A few things to keep in mind from my perspective as a 14 year Facebook user:

• Facebook is very flexible and understanding when it comes to strict enforcement of its policies. 
• The policies and standards are meant to serve as a baseline to reinforce good behavior and limit any liability Facebook could inherit from cyber bullies.

If you want to get an idea of what Social Media life looks like without these policies, go take a gander at Twitter, or read the comments section on YouTube under a video over the Pandemic or your favorite social norm topic. One minute you're researching the latest trends in remote workplace tools, the next minute you're entangled in a text-based brawl with two strangers named Boing_Boing_Duck and Tinkelstien.

Another good example is reddit. There are plenty of times where redditors tracked someone down and exposed real life details about them. I won't link to any of those stories here since they typically involve some controversial topics where this type of exposure was warranted (ie you are happy reddit did it), but I think people fail to realize how easy this type of thing is to do. And regardless of how you may feel about Facebook, or Mark Z., personally, they do try to protect users privacy from other users; and if you get threatened or harassed by another user, Facebook can, has, and will get law enforcement involved to remedy the situation asap.

But I digress.

If you already have a Facebook Account and want a second account... yes, you can do that. While it is, technically, against Facebook's policies; Facebook also understands what they are imposing with this Oculus account merger. And Facebook is always working to update their standards and guidelines; so don't be surprised to find new standards and guidelines that help make this situation less daunting.

Using myself as an example, I have 3 Facebook accounts that are active. One of them has been active since 2006. The second one was created around 2014. Both of them use my real name (first and last name), and real pictures of myself. I ended up deactiving the first one, but I can still log in any time I want to reactivate it. I've been in this situation for 6 years now, and Facebook has never once questioned me, contacted me in any way, or caused problems for either of my accounts. The only thing they did was recognize me right away and started suggesting that I add all the friends from my original account lol.

My third account is for the Oculus VR "Zenbane" account. And Facebook has been accepting of my activity. At least so far!

If you use a VPN and you have no problem spinning up a new Email Address; then as long as your intentions are good, you should have zero problems with a VR specific Facebook account. The only way you may encounter issues is if you start using your FB Account to attack other people.

For those who do NOT have a Facebook account, you need not worry too much:
You do NOT have to use your real name.

For starters, I do not use my real name on  my third Facebook account. I don't even use a VPN or proxy! Not that Facebook would care, since Facebook has no idea how many members of a household you may have. Facebook is quite used to seeing multiple accounts coming from the same IP address.

Aside from my own experience, here are things I see all the time:

• Friends closing one account, and then starting up a new one under a new name. I see this the most with those friends of mine who tend to go through a dramatic "breakup" every other year lol. I end up getting a friend request from a name I've never heard of, and no profile picture. I don't accept it, thinking it's just a weirdo. But then they message me saying, "psst, it's me. I'm in hiding." And then I'm like, "Seriously? Another breakup?!"
• Friends who fall in love and end up creating a Joint Account with their new boo. It would be like if me and Nalex were on Facebook. Him under Nalex, me under Zenbane. And then we fall in love and create a third account: LexyZeny. Filled with pictures of all our travels and escapades.

So this leaves the question... what if you create an account without using your real name, but then later you have to prove your identity? Well that is something to keep in mind for sure. If you plan to avoid using your real name... then  make sure you have at least 3 people on your friends list who are willing to act as a reference!

Here is a screenshot I took today, by going through the account reactivation process for my 2006 FB Account (I edited portions for privacy):




Although, for those 100% determined to run solo with a Facebook account, you could just create a total of 4 FB Accounts, and act as your own "3 friends" lol.

This is very important, though. Because if you do not plan for this for account recovery purposes, then you will have to provide Facebook with other legal forms of identification. Keep in mind that this doesn't mean you have to use your real name. You can still be a Jon Doe on Facebook and submit them your Tod Smith identification. You may have to explain why you aren't using your real name; at which point just take good 'ol snowdog's advice and let them know you are concerned about stalkers. But at this point, Facebook will have a legal document on file for you.

All-in-all, I have been able to successfully use 3 different FB Accounts over the span of 14 years without any issues, and without having to submit any legal documents to Facebook, or engage in any other concerning activity to prove who I am.

Trust me, Facebook already knows who you are. Your Internet Service Provider is telling them. Your cellphone company is telling them. Facebook has satellites in space that can see you.

If privacy is truly your utmost concern, then disconnect from it all and live "off the grid." Otherwise... kick back, relax, and enjoy some VR.
 🙂 

[Pixie40]

No, what that shows is how few people bother to read the Terms of Service, End User License Agreement, or any other form of binding document. I had a lawyer who was shocked speechless that I actually read documents, let alone that I then later read the entire thing again to see if anything has changed before signing it.

And you better believe that companies like Facebook, Google, and yes even your ISP take advantage of this fact. They coach everything in language that makes it difficult to parse, use section headers that cause things to blend together, and otherwise ensure the end user is unlikely to actually read through it. Oh, and the potentially alarming parts are kept till the middle or end of the ToS, EULA, or what not.

[Zenbane]

With contract laws in the US, if a contract is proven to have something in it that is a clear violation of an existing law, or otherwise deemed unethical, then the contract is null and void.

So yes, while anyone can take advantage of contracts by adding extra jargon that people don't bother to read, that extra jargon can't be illegal or unethical, or else it is non-binding.

I get that the whole "offering your first born as payment" is meant to be an extreme analogy. But just to be clear, using humans as a form of payment is illegal in the US, lmao. So... that couldn't literally be placed inside a ToS, or other legally binding contract.

[wuzp]

Zenbane said:

With contract laws in the US, if a contract is proven to have something in it that is a clear violation of an existing law, or otherwise deemed unethical, then the contract is null and void.

So yes, while anyone can take advantage of contracts by adding extra jargon that people don't bother to read, that extra jargon can't be illegal or unethical, or else it is non-binding.

I get that the whole "offering your first born as payment" is meant to be an extreme analogy. But just to be clear, using humans as a form of payment is illegal in the US, lmao. So... that couldn't literally be placed inside a ToS, or other legally binding contract.

I can't find it, but there's another example "somewhere" on the Internet of a TOS in which you agree to clean the boss' house every week.

[Zenbane]

wuzp said:

Zenbane said:

With contract laws in the US, if a contract is proven to have something in it that is a clear violation of an existing law, or otherwise deemed unethical, then the contract is null and void.

So yes, while anyone can take advantage of contracts by adding extra jargon that people don't bother to read, that extra jargon can't be illegal or unethical, or else it is non-binding.

I get that the whole "offering your first born as payment" is meant to be an extreme analogy. But just to be clear, using humans as a form of payment is illegal in the US, lmao. So... that couldn't literally be placed inside a ToS, or other legally binding contract.

I can't find it, but there's another example "somewhere" on the Internet of a TOS in which you agree to clean the boss' house every week.

That's a legal service though. There are legal cleaning services, even for homes. Selling children is not legal, my friend. lol

Judges order similar activities as well. It falls under the category of: Community Service. A judge can make you clean up trash off the street. All legal.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean selling children is not legal?

Oh shite.

Please visit me when I'm in jail. ?

[Zenbane]

To wuzp's point though. Yes we can safely assume that some 99% of consumers do NOT read a ToS at all. I tend to skim read the first few paragraphs, and then scroll to the end to look for anything fishy. But I skip the entirety of the main body. And yes, organizations most certainly do take full advantage of this fact.

My only point is that a contract is only legally binding if the contract itself is legal. This fact is the reason so many consumers feel comfortable and safe skipping the ToS and just clicking, I Agree. Because even if the ToS does demand your child, the Law won't let it happen.

[wuzp]

Zenbane said:

Because even if the ToS does demand your child, the Law won't let it happen.

Or let Apple impose "group punishment" on Unreal Engine developers, what Apple called "affiliated entities" 😄

[nishruu2]

if you want to play the Reindeer games; you will agree.  

[Pixie40]

Of course, while you can (usually) safely assume the TOS aren't going to contain anything that's actually illegal, if you don't actually read them before clicking "I agree" and digitally signing then you can, and probably will, be caught by surprise when those buried clauses crop up and bite you in the rear. Knowing that Cortana sends a copy of everything on my hard drive to Microsoft along with anything I say (if I have a always plugged in microphone) caused me to say "Nope, no way in hell am I enabling that bit of spyware". I rejected those terms of service with a vengeance, and ensured that entire system has been disabled and removed from my Window's installation's features. I'd have never known that however without reading the Terms of Service. Skimming the first few and last few paragraphs also would have concealed this info since it was buried deep in the middle of the ToS.

I'd actually read Facebook's privacy policy before I initially created an account. And because of that I decided to only give the bare minimum information, and felt really uncomfortable about how they wanted me to use my real name. Which is why I contacted them initially, and got walked through how to change it to an alias. I'd been trying to get the account deleted due to deciding the facebook games I was playing (and kind of addicted to even if I didn't spend money) not being worth putting my real name out into public view on the internet.

Yes, I did realize my name was publicly available through various sources such as the phone company anyway.

EDIT: And yet, by not having my birth name and a photo of myself on Facebook (or anywhere else public that I can avoid doing so) it helps protect my identity, and my safety. Already got 'swatted' once by some a-hole over an online game of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe because I managed to pass the a-hole (who was cheating via spamming red shells nonstop even before the race started yet STILL was in 7th place by the end of the race). I didn't even win that particular race. I came in 5th place, barely.

[Anonymous]

@Zenbane
Great post and very helpful but one question ... I have used Oculus Venue once and obviously had to log in via facebook then logged out when finished.

Now if i go for Option 2 in your list to create one specifically for my Oculus will there be any problem because i have already logged in once before ?

Basically the only account i have was made years ago more for the kids and its just all thier stuff, friends etc .. I want my own. I dont think its unreasonable and wont be fake in any way.
😞