So my name is "Dave Hill" — or "+Dave Hill" in Google Plus parlance.
But nobody calls me that, except for the lady at the DMV to call me to the counter. But Google Plus has no way of referring to people in a linked fashion except by their full tag — "So, +Dave Hill, what did you think of that?" "I hear what you are saying, +Dave Hill, but I respectfully disagree," "You got your finger stuck in a light socket? Bummer, *+Dave Hill*"
Which is a long way of saying that I wish there was a reasonable nickname mechanism in Plus, so that I could refer to people as "Bob" or "Fred" or "Suzie," rather than "+Bob Frankenfrikle" or "+Frederick J. Uglaublich III" or "Susanne DeFenestracion" and have it link back to them / flag them with a notification.
It's one of those social mechanisms that actually gets in the way of being social.
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You've hit the nail on the head +Dave Hill It should have been implemented from the start.
I'm not sure how I would implement it (+fullname, ++nickname?), but I think it's something Google needs to consider.
I suppose I could go to the "leave feedback" page …