Why do I need a public profile? Why access to Buzz?

[zottel]

I wanted to try out Shared Spaces using my Google account.

First, it tried to get access to Buzz. I didn't want that, so I said
no. Error -> no access to Shared Spaces. Uhm, wut? Why the hell should
access to Buzz be required for using Shared Spaces?

So I tried a second time, this time granting access to Buzz. Well, it
still didn't work because I don't have a public profile in my Google
account. Huh? I don't plan to ever create one. Why is this required
for Shared Spaces?

I neither have a Yahoo nor a Twitter account, so that's it, I can't
use Shared Spaces.

Very disappointing, above all because these restrictions don't make
sense at all.

[zottel]

Sorry, just saw that this was already discussed in another thread.
But: No timeframe to get rid of the public profile dependency? It
seems to me that this shouldn't be too complicated, and it will block
access for huge numbers of potential users, at least in privacy-aware
countries like Germany. I don't know a single person who has a public
profile in their Google account.

[Chris Lang]

Why not just create a profile? And enable Buzz, you don't have to use
it or get anything there simply by not following anyone. Only takes
seconds....

I believe the reason it asks for Buzz access is for privacy
permissions, you have to OK something and it takes a Google Account to
use Shared Spaces, so why not just create then?

But I agree this will aggravate many users. Looking forward to what
Google has to say...

As far as public profiles, there are between 1.5 and 2.5 million
Google Buzz users with public profiles. 1461 follow me there, it's
quite common actually.

You don't have to put anything personal on it, just create one for the
account, leave it blank if you must.

If you want to see an active Google profile here's mine,
http://www.google.com/profiles/chrislang

Chris Lang

[pamela (Google Employee)]

Sorry for the inconvenience -- we are looking into a Google authentication option that wouldn't require a public profile. Please stay tuned.

[Chris Lang]

Thanks Pamela, great news.

[Oliver Gassner]

On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 15:21, pamela (Google Employee)
<pame...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Sorry for the inconvenience -- we are looking into a Google authentication
> option that wouldn't require a public profile. Please stay tuned.

OpenID was suggested, I think :=)

OG

[pamela (Google Employee)]

Update: We have now changed to using Google OpenID authentication, which means that you should now be able to login into Google Shared Spaces with a GMail account that does not have a public profile. (You won't have a picture, as we can only access the pictures for users that have public profiles, but you will have a name :).

Please try that out and let us know if it worked for you.

*Note: We're still working on Google Apps authentication.

[Vladimir Kelman]

That's great because it adds flexibility / user-friendliness.

Still I second Chris Lang in that a Public Google Profile is just a good and easy way to show one's identity on the Internet. It doesn't require much.

[John Baker]

Hi all, 

I second Vladimir on his comment about flexibility/user friendliness, and also agree with Chris:  Profiles are not bad things.  

GooG Apps people do have them too, although the profiles don't always behave the same.  Which brings me to a different question:  

Is there ever going to be a time when GooG Apps users are able to Buzz?

There's a fundamental disconnect here - Buzz is good and we want to expand Buzz, but we make people jump through hoops, including messy, multiple ID schemes, to do this?  I cannot imagine this is a decision based on user observation.

I know, once some design decisions are cast, it's hard to make changes.  Is this the kind of constraint being faced?  The implication is, it means Buzz will follow the fate of Wave, as sure as eggs is eggs.  How else could such a story end?

[Chris Lang]

I like to think of the Google profile as your business card.....

Here! Here! When is Buzz going to come to Google Apps?

Been asking that question for 11 months now.....

[chiggsy]

He probably does not want to create a public profile.  Understandably so.  

[chiggsy]

Still I second Chris Lang in that a Public Google Profile is just a good and easy way to show one's identity on the Internet. It doesn't require much.

True words, but that is the very definition of the Straw Man Fallacy.  OP did not ask "What is a good and easy way to show one's identity" OP asked _why_.  I now share that curiosity. 

[Vladimir Kelman]

Why? A strange question. Don't you want people to know who you are, to be able to decide if they are interested in following / contacting you? Don't you want to meet interesting people online and to find new resources?  If you don't,  why to use Web at all?

Vladimir Kelman
https://profiles.google.com/vkelman/
Sent from CM7 on Nook Color

[chiggsy]

Heh, I would like some people to know who I am, certainly. Some I would not. 

We work with computers, yes? However our personal choices are not binary values. I'm done with this discussion, unless it gets a bit more lively, but situations change, and the assumption of fidelity by even my beloved Google has come into question.

Here, what is the vulnerability surface for one person's google identity? How much data is needed to store or memorize to ensure access to each part for the end user? Are each and every one of these dozens of api's secure? So, seems a valid question, to me anyway.