by Thomas Holbrook II, Tech Guru
Life events, pictures, and connections to friends and family have been the hallmark of social media. Among the popular sites, Facebook is still at the top.
Recently, there’s been controversy in the LGBT community due to the “legal name” policy in the social media giant’s terms of service. Confirmed by Snopes, drag queens have been warned that they must use their legal names or have their accounts deleted.
The good news is that there’s a simple way around it.
The first step is to create a new account, and keep your privacy settings as high as possible. The next step is to use that account to create a fan page. Fan pages have less restrictions on the names that may be used, especially if the page is for an entertainer.
Switching to the fan page profile allows the user to post status updates to their page, add photos, and more. Each fan page has their own feed that can be expanded by liking other pages.
In this way, those who wish to keep their private names private can still connect to each other without the risk of their account being deleted. Other features such as banning fans who act out of line add to the layers of privacy.
Once the fan page is set up to the user’s satisfaction, they can set a unique name for the URL, making it convenient for promoting to others. Still, it’s no guarantee against having a page reported and removed.
Other options include having e-mail lists, creating or joining a web forum, or using alternative social media websites.
Relying on third party services as opposed to hosting a website comes with certain risks, including account deletion for any reason. Having more than one avenue of online communication may be beneficial.
