Facebook rejects a man named V

<p>SAN FRANCISCO -- Everyone knows you on Facebook. The problem is, Facebook doesn't know you.</p><p>At least that was V Addeman's problem when he tried to sign up for the social networking site.</p><p>Recently laid off as a category analyst for convenience stores, Addeman, a 52-year-old grandfather from Costa Mesa in Orange County who was active on MySpace and LinkedIn, wanted another place to connect -- and reconnect -- with online friends.</p><p>Addeman says he's well aware that his first name -- a single letter -- is unusual. He picked it out himself. An aspiring writer, he thought it would look good someday on a book jacket. So he changed it legally.</p><p>But Facebook Inc.'s automated system rejected his registration effort. Addeman complained but says he got the runaround from customer service. Then he was told he had to supply a valid government-issued ID.</p><p>He balked. "I shouldn't be forced to submit to additional verification if that's not a normal request for all Facebook users," he said.</p><p>He eventually received an apology from Facebook customer service and an account: "In the course of our investigation we have determined that your use of 'V' does appear to be legitimate."</p><p>Facebook says it requires people to provide their real name and date of birth; the goal is to prevent users from impersonating others and to preserve the authenticity of the social network. So it blacklists names such as Donald Duck and George Clooney.</p><p>And Facebook automatically rejects one-letter first names.</p><p>"I won my battle, but I think the war is still going on," Addeman said. "I know I am not the only person in this situation."</p><p>Facebook says it has rejected or banned others because of their odd names, but very few for having one-letter first names.</p><p>"We want you to be who you are on Facebook," said Barry Schnitt, a spokesman for the Palo Alto company. "That requires some automated rules. Some of them are not perfect. But I would argue that requiring more than one letter for a first name is pretty darn close. It's an inconvenience for a few, but it makes sure that the site as a whole has the integrity of real-name culture."</p>