 A sock puppet, after which internet sock puppets are named. - For Wikipedia policy on sock puppets, see Wikipedia:Sock puppetry.
An Internet sock puppet is an additional account created by an existing member of an Internet community. This account allows them to pose as a completely different user, sometimes to manufacture the illusion of support in a vote or argument. Other reasons include a desire to support or vote on an issue coupled with a desire to have one's "main" account stay away from the issue. This behaviour is sometimes seen as being dishonest by online communities and as a result these individuals are often labeled as trolls. This is often done on sites like eBay in order to bid on one's own auctions, although eBay forbids the practice. Image File history File links Mugshot_Puppet_S.png Summary Made this based on Image:Carlb-sockpuppet-02. ...
Image File history File links Mugshot_Puppet_S.png Summary Made this based on Image:Carlb-sockpuppet-02. ...
This article describes sock puppets in general. ...
This article needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ...
In Internet terminology, a troll is a person who posts rude or offensive messages on the Internet, such as on online discussion forums, to disrupt discussion or to upset its participants. ...
eBay Inc. ...
How to recognize multi accounts - The user has more knowledge than would be expected of a newcomer regarding the site's methods, rules, and community members.
- Takes part of similar discussions and has mostly same opinions as the user's main account
- May have the same IP address.
- Sometimes owners of several accounts use similar names: for example original1, original2, original3 etc.
Additional and related terms Another type of sock puppet is sometimes referred to as a “straw man sock puppet.” They are created by users with one point of view, but act as though they have an opposing point of view, in order to make that point of view look bad. They will often make poor arguments which their “opponents” can then easily refute. This can allow them to essentially make straw man arguments. Such sock puppets thus become a personification of the straw man argument which their creators argue against. They often act in an unintelligent or uninformed manner, and may behave in an overtly bigoted manner. The effect is often to obfuscate the debate and prevent a serious discussion of the arguments from each side. Suspicion of such sock puppets is often harder to verify though, as there are often people who naturally behave in such a manner with the same effects. A straw man or man of straw is a dummy in the shape of a human created by stuffing straw into clothes. ...
A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from his own. ...
A third type of sock puppet is an account created by the manufacturer of a product or the author of a book for the sole purpose of recommending the product/book by posing as an enthusiastic consumer or reader (a crude attempt at do-it-yourself viral marketing). A single such sock puppet is a shill; creating large numbers of them to fake a "grass-roots" underswell is known as astroturfing. Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that seek to exploit pre-existing social networks to produce exponential increases in brand awareness, through viral processes similar to the spread of an epidemic. ...
A shill is an associate of a person selling a good or service, who pretends no association and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. ...
In American politics and advertising, the term astroturfing describes formal public relations projects which deliberately seek to engineer the impression of spontaneous, grassroots behavior. ...
A meat puppet is a variation of a sock puppet; a new internet community member account is created by another person at the request of a user solely for the purposes of influencing the community on a given issue or issues. While less overtly deceptive than sock puppetry, the effect of meat puppetry and sock puppetry on the community as a whole may be similar.
Origin of the term The term was perhaps first used on July 9, 1993 in a posting to bit.listserv.fnord-l, but was not in common usage in USENET groups until 1996. However, the precise reason the term "Sock Puppet" came to be used in this manner is likely lost to antiquity. At least two possibilites have been offered. July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining. ...
1993 (MCMXCIII in Roman) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...
Usenet is a distributed Internet discussion system that evolved from a general purpose UUCP network of the same name. ...
One is that the term "sock puppet" reflects what a real sock puppet is: a fake personality operated by an actual personality. This article describes sock puppets in general. ...
Another is that it relates to the term "socket" as used in the computer industry. A socket generally designates a cavity or region used for fitting and connecting some specific device. ...
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