Clubhouse tells Microsoft program manager she can't join because her name isn't real

Candice Poon is a manager at Microsoft. She wanted to join the audio-chat app Clubhouse. Sadly, her name isn't real, as far as Clubhouse is concerned, and she had to raise a fuss on social media to get in.

People use real names on Clubhouse :) Thnx!

That smug fuck you message, complete with emoticon and chirpy abbreviation, is tres Silicon Valley, isn't it? Clubhouse reportedly had acute techbro culture problems—racism, sexism, anti-semitism—right from the outset. Alarming as that is, it's hardly unexpected, and a warning about what will be tolerated and encouraged by new platforms desperate to compete with entrenched monopolies.

Two reminders: 1. "Real names" policies aren't about preventing abuse and don't achieve that end in any meaningful way. 2. Algorithms mirror the minds of their makers.