Facebook is changing its controversial real name policy, according to BuzzFeed News Friday, to let users provide more context when the service requires name confirmation.
In addition, Facebook will now require more information from anyone reporting a profile in an effort to discourage users from misusing the reporting tool as a weapon or harassment tactic. Both changes are expected to start rolling out in December.
Facebook is making these changes after receiving an organized complaint from members of the LGBT community who don’t always go by their legal name on the service, as per BuzzFeed News reporter Alex Kantrowitz.
“We want to reduce the number of people who are asked to verify their name on Facebook, when they are already using the name people know them by,” wrote Alex Schltz, Facebook’s vice president of growth. “We want to make it easier for people to confirm their name if necessary.”
The previously arduous and frustrating process of confirming your name will soon reduce friction by letting you add context and details to the case you make to Facebook’s Community Operations team, which previously wasn’t even an option.
“It will help us better understand the reasons why people can’t currently confirm their name, informing potential changes we make in the future,” he said.
Of course, people who use their screen names instead of authentic names are still at risk of seeing their account suspended for Facebook wants its customers to be accountable for what they say on the service.
In other Facebook news, the company is testing a new feature called Local Market, basically a dedicated buying and selling community powered by Facebook Groups. They’re also retiring the ‘Other’ inbox and replacing it with a brand new messaging feature, called Message Requests.
Source: BuzzFeed News