“Your profile is suspended”

Funny that Google+ suddenly had a “There was a problem saving your post. Please try again” message when I tried to post this on G+. So screw them, it’s here now.

What the? “Your profile is suspended

After reviewing your profile, we determined that the name you provided violates our Community Standards. ”

Oh geeze. Google being a knob about my profile?? Let’s take a look at these “Community standards” shall we?

http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?answer=107107

*Nudity and sexually explicit material*
- nope, none of that in my profile. Trust me, anyone who wants to see ME nude is in a very deranged category :P

*Hate Speech*

- not that either. Unless it’s comments for stupid people who make stupid claims about profiles……

*Impersonation*
- ha! I have enough with my hands full just being ME. Don’t have time to waste trying to be someone else.

*Private and Confidential Information*
- nada. I ain’t publishing anyone’s private information that they don’t already post up here, thus waiving any rights to their own privacy :P UNless Google doesn’t like me reposting some personal vacation photos that +Robert Scoble or +Guy Kawasaki are already posting….

*Copyright*
- in order for me to violate copyright I would have to post something that is supposed to be non-publishable as well as claim it as my own. Anything I have posted has been found on the web (mostly by Google itself…).

*Illegal Activities*
- yeah, as if anyone was dumb enough to post illegal activities on such a public forum. Well, at least I ain’t that dumb even if I DID anything illegal. Wait! Does this mean I can’t plan a rebellion against the ‘establishment’ like George Washington did? Dammit!

*Spam, Malware and Phishing*
- as if! Have you read my posts on http://www.dragondon.com lately?

*Display Name*
- allow me to quote: “use the name your friends, family, or co-workers usually call you”. That is EXACTLY what I am doing.

*Profile Picture*
- Unless my profile pic is considered a bad version of the black spy in Spy vs Spy, there is nothing wrong with it.

So, unless Google wants to qualify WHAT the problem is, there is ZERO way to fix it? You guys really need to get your act together. Telling me that my profile is suspended is like me telling a mechanic that my car ‘won’t work’ and then letting him figure it out.

OH wait….it seems that you have to click further to get any details from Google.

“If you believe that we have mistakenly suspended your profile for having an unauthentic name, please fill out the form below.”

Ah, so we now have confirmation that it IS the name that Google is having issues with.

Well, since they have not launched their business profiles, does this mean I should be reporting every single one that does not have a ‘real name’ too? I mean, unless you were born with such unfortunate names like +Ford Grafx or +News Cafeicultura or even +Ford Group I doubt that I am somehow on the side that needs to be singled out.

There has already been talk about this issue fairly recently too.

http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/07/25/google-is-learning-lessons-from-google-fake-names-debacle/

So, off to go through the ‘appeal process’ they seem to have in place now. Part of the process they ask for some sort of photo ID. Riiiight. What part of “please use the name your friends, family or co-workers usually call you” does photo ID help serve? And really,Google wants to “help fight spam and prevent fake profiles”, what makes them think that my profile if fake or causes any sort of spam??

According to an interview +Robert Scoble had with +Vic Gundotra “He says it isn’t about real names. He says he isn’t using his legal name here. He says, instead, it is about having common names and removing people who spell their names in weird ways, like using upside-down characters, or who are using obviously fake names, like “god” or worse.”

So, again, how does this have anything to do with me? Has +Vic Gundotra even USED Google to check me out? Go ahead, do a Google search on ‘dragondon’. Know what you will find? You will find my in 7 of the first 10 results listed! And that includes me taking up spots 1, 2 3, and 4!

Another part of this process includes providing links online “Please provide us with a link to a reputable website where you are referred to by this name. Examples include Facebook, LinkedIn, a school or university student directory, or a news article.”

Sure thing Vic. In fact, let me give you 8 different places where you can find my name mentioned on the web.

http://www.dragondon.net

http://www.dragondon.com

https://twitter.com/#!/DragnDon

http://dragondon.449983.free-press-release.com/

http://www.free-press-release.com/news-get-expert-technical-help-wherever-you-are-1306198753.html

http://www.free-press-release.com/news-richelieu-of-new-york-and-johnny-powers-team-up-1250090930.html

http://www.free-press-release.com/news-johnny-powers-presents-the-royalty-of-pop-1250124477.html

http://kr.linkedin.com/in/dragondonbelmore

Oh, should I even bother to mention that I was COMPLETELY UNAWARE that my profile was blocked? Would have been nice to have been informed of this Vic.

Do I even need to mention that I registered dragondon.net almost 8 years ago? Nah, they’ll figure it out.