ABC Nightlife Computers: The Internet Name Wars

How the Internet’s name wars can affect you

radio programs for techonology, web, social media, cloud computing and computer advice

The online empires want our names and identities, are the real costs of social media now being exposed? Our September ABC Nightlife spot on September 22 from 10pm looked at these issues and more.

Paul and Tony discussed how Google’s “Name Wars” or “nymwars” came about, why social media sites like Facebook and search engines want you to use to use your real names.

The podcast from the program is available from at Nightlife website, more details of Tony’s programs can be found there as well.

Is this a good thing or are there costs we should consider before handing over our intimate details to a social media or free cloud computing service?

Some of the topics we covered included;

  • What are the “name wars’?
  • Why do companies like Google and Facebook want us to use our ‘real’ identities?
  • How can they use the information they gather?
  • What problems does that cause for Internet users?
  • Can these problems spill into real life?
  • Are all web services doing this?
  • What are the risks to businesses using social media?
  • Is this the real cost of social media?

Some of the information we mentioned can be found here;

The cost of lunch: Google and Information Revenue
Google’s real names policy explained
Google’s Eric Schmidt on being an “identity service”, not a social network
Google’s company philosophy (note item two)
Why Twitter doesn’t care what your real name is

We’ll be adding more resources in the next few days, the next ABC Nightlife spot is on 20 October and our events page will have more details. If you have any suggestions for future programs or comments on the last show, please let us know as we love your feedback.

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Author: Paul Wallbank

Paul Wallbank is a speaker and writer charting how technology is changing society and business. Paul has four regular technology advice radio programs on ABC, a weekly column on the smartcompany.com.au website and has published seven books.

7 thoughts on “ABC Nightlife Computers: The Internet Name Wars”

  1. Paul
    Thanks for keeping us informed – this is a topic close to my heart as much of my work and play is spent using connected media to build community, drive business and find opportunities to connect, share and help others. It’s easy to get blind-sided by the immediate value so I’m glad to have you researching and summarising this!

    Cheers.
    Tony Hollingsworth

  2. Thanks for a thoughtful take on the nymwars.

    Control of one’s own Public Identity Management should not be commandeered by third parties on smarmy pretexts of convenience or entertainment.

  3. Great session on ABC. You mentioned how employees will find a way to stay social at work. If personal identity is complex to manage and protect through changing social platforms, for businesses it can be more complex. Any examples of businesses which are harnessing this social connectivity better than others for internal ideas sharing?

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