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Rosa Golijan

Facebook to verify identities, allow fake names

Facebook, the social network where everyone knows your (real) name, will now allow people to start using fake names ... but only after they verify their real identities. This may sound strange, but it actually makes sense.

Prominent Facebook users will be able to use alternate names or pseudonyms rather than their birth names on the social network, TechCrunch's Josh Constine points out.  For example, Lady Gaga can now use her stage name rather than her birth name — Stefani Germanotta — on her Facebook profile. (Alternatively, she could also choose to have her alternate name display in parentheses after her real name.)

On Thursday, Facebook will begin offering select Facebook users — particularly those with many subscribers — the option of going through this new verification process and adding alternate names. Those who are offered the opportunity to be verified will see a prompt which will ask them to submit an image of a government-issued photo ID (or two alternate forms of identification). According to Facebook, documents submitted by users for verification will be permanantly deleted as soon as the process is completed.

It is curious that unlike Twitter and Google +, Facebook isn't providing a visual indicator of which accounts are verified and which aren't. Twitter uses a blue check mark and Google+ adds a green badge with a yellow check mark to verified accounts. On Facebook, the only difference between a verified account and an unverified account will be the ability to use fake names and a higher ranking in Facebook's Subscribe suggestion lists.

Update: Facebook has reached out to us to emphasize that the alternate names verified users will be able to choose must be legitimate nicknames, stage names, maiden names, and so on.

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