Google+ relents, brings in nicknames and pseudonyms

Not for the first time, Google has done a bit of a social networking U-turn by announcing that Google+ will soon allow users to add nicknames and pseudonyms.

According to Bradley Horowitz, who made the announcement on Google+, the company has changed its policy after listening "closely" to community feedback.

We're not sure how closely it really needed to listen - Google caused quite an uproar when Google+ launched without the ability for you to create a profile for your cat or call yourself by your cool internet name.

Throw in a couple of high profile "name appeals" as Google generously calls them and the media coverage alone should have been enough to prod the company into a change in process.

Sobriquet away

You'll still have to sign up with a real name, but over the course of the next week Google will be adding the ability to add an alternate name to your profile – these include maiden names, names in other scripts and nicknames.

"This name will show up on your Google+ profile and in the hovercards which appear over your name," explained Horowitz. "In the next few weeks, we'll be displaying it more broadly as part of your name in other areas of Google+ as well."

Hey, guess who else is on Google+? President Obama! And, also, us! Join us on the TechRadar Google+ page for tech chit-chat and the like, whydontcha?