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A sock puppet, after which Internet sock puppets are named. A sockpuppet (sometimes known also as a socket, glove puppet, shadow puppet, mule, alias, alternate, ghostnic, or joke account) is a pejorative term for a false online identity used for purposes of deception within an Internet community, According to WordSpy, "A sock puppet .. is a false identity through which a member of an Internet community speaks while pretending not to, like a puppeteer manipulating a hand puppet." Image File history File links Circle-question. ...
Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ...
Image File history File links Broom_icon. ...
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. ...
A shadow puppet is a puppet intended for performance at night or in a darkened interior space. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with pejoration. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ...
A community usually refers to a sociological group in a large place or collections of plant or animal organisms sharing an environment. ...
In the simplest cases, a sockpuppet defends or praises its puppeteer. More complex examples of sockpuppets appear below. The unifying theme here is not merely posting under a pseudonym but dishonest use of that pseudonym to hide the true motivation behind its expressed opinions. A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ...
Characteristics
Typically, the user has more knowledge than would be expected of a newcomer regarding the site's methods, rules, and community members; takes part in similar discussions and has mostly same opinions and concerns as the user's main account; may be used to support the arguments of the first account; may have the same IP address and/or Internet Service Provider; sometimes has an account name similar to those of other suspected sockpuppets: for example SollogSockPuppet, SollogSock, SollogHasAPuppet, BigSockBig, etc. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
“ISP†redirects here. ...
Examples While examples abound, most are of non-public figures. Notable exceptions in recent years include: - John Lott, author of More Guns, Less Crime, who, between 2000 and 2003, posted under the "sock puppet" name of "Mary Rosh,"[1] praising Lott's teaching, and arguing with Lott's critics on Usenet. The name was also used to post outstanding reviews of his books, and panning books of rivals on online book sites. Lott admitted he had frequently used the name "Mary Rosh" to defend himself, but claimed the book reviews by "Mary Rosh" were written by his son and wife.
- Lee Siegel, writer for The New Republic magazine, was suspended for defending his articles and blog comments using the user name "Sprezzatura".[2]
John R. Lott Jr. ...
Usenet (USEr NETwork) is a global, distributed Internet discussion system that evolved from a general purpose UUCP network of the same name. ...
Lee Siegel (born December 5, 1957) is a New York writer and cultural critic who has written for Harpers, The New Republic, The Nation, The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and many other publications. ...
For other uses, see the New Republic disambiguation page. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Combatting sockpuppets Preventing sock puppetry is very difficult in any situation where user accounts are freely available, and anonymous (as basically all Internet accounts are, the only exceptions generally being physical institutions, such as online banks, and government/education networks). Fighting sock puppetry has become more difficult in recent years due to the advent of several new technologies—two key ones being internet proxies and NAT (Network Address Translation). This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
In computer networking, the process of network address translation (NAT, also known as network masquerading, native address translation or IP masquerading) involves re-writing the source and/or destination addresses of IP packets as they pass through a router or firewall. ...
Proxies Proxies as they relate to sock puppetry are online services through which users may surf the Internet, making it appear to web servers that they have a different IP address, are located in a different city (even country), or are otherwise not the same person they were before they began using the proxy.
NAT Network address translation has a similar, but reverse effect. That is, NAT allows many users, usually those behind corporate or home firewalls, to appear at the same IP address. If one person behind a NAT is banned on the basis of their IP address, no individuals behind that NAT will be able to access the website. Since the use of NAT has grown by incredible proportions in recent years, banning by IP address is often harmful to innocent users who are also behind a banned NAT device.
Additional and related terms
Strawman sockpuppet Another type of sockpuppet is sometimes referred to as a “strawman sockpuppet”. 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. Such sockpuppets will typically advance foolish straw man arguments which their “opponents” can then easily refute. They often act in an unintelligent, uninformed, or bigoted manner. The effect is to discredit more rational arguments for the same side. A point of view, viewpoint or POV, is the following: On a given topic, a point of view is a cognitive perspective. ...
A straw man argument is a logical fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponents position. ...
A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from his own. ...
Suspicion of strawman sockpuppets is often hard to verify, as there are people who naturally behave in such a manner with the same effects.
Concern troll A concern troll is also a fictitious online identity whose proclaimed beliefs are not those its creator really believes and is trying to push. [3]
The concern troll posts in web forums devoted to its declared point of view (for example, Democrats or fans of the Prius), and attempts to sway the group's actions or opinions while claiming to share their goals but with some "concerns". Prius may refer to: Hitachi Flora Prius, a personal computer. ...
Ingroup bias is the preferential treatment people give to whom they perceive to be members of their own groups. ...
For example, in 2006 a top staffer for then-Congressman Charlie Bass (R-NH) was caught posing as a "concerned" supporter of Bass's opponent Democrat Paul Hodes on several liberal NH blogs, using the pseudonyms "IndieNH" or "IndyNH." "IndyNH" was "concerned" that Democrats might just be wasting their time or money on Hodes, because Bass was unbeatable. [4] Charles Foster Bass (born January 8, 1952) is a member of the United States House of Representatives for the second district of New Hampshire. ...
Paul Hodes is an attorney from the state of New Hampshire who formerly served at the Shaheen & Gordon Law Firm. ...
Suspicion of concern trolls is hard to verify without clearcut information about the IP number from which their posts originate, as there are people who naturally behave in such a manner.
Shills and astroturfing A sockpuppet-like use of deceptive fake identities is used in stealth marketing. The stealth marketer creates one or more pseudonymous accounts, each one claiming to be owned by a different enthusiastic supporter of the sponsor's product or book or ideology. [5] Undercover marketing is a subset of guerrilla marketing where the consumer doesnt realize theyre being marketed to. ...
A single such sockpuppet is a shill; creating large numbers of them to fake a "grass-roots" upswelling of support is known as astroturfing. A shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services who pretends no association to the seller and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. ...
Astroturfing is a term for formal public relations campaigns in politics and advertising that seek to create the impression of being spontaneous, grassroots behavior. ...
Meatpuppet The term meatpuppet is used by some[citation needed] as a variation of a sockpuppet; a new Internet community member account, created by another person at the request of a user solely for the purposes of influencing the community on a given issue or issues acting essentially as a puppet of the first user without having independent views and actual or potential contributions. While less overtly deceptive than sockpuppetry, the effect of meatpuppetry and sockpuppetry on the community as a whole may be similar. Brock Read claims that "[t]he “meat puppet” is a peculiar inhabitant of the digital world—a fictional character that passes for a real person online."[1]
This is similar to some practices involved in the "real world" concept of branch stacking. In Australian politics, branch stacking is the act of enrolling persons to a party by offering inducement, or enrolling persons for the principal purpose of influencing the outcome of internal pre-selections of candidates for public office. ...
Origin of the term The precise reason the term "Sock Puppet" came to be used in this manner is likely lost to history. At least two possibilities have been offered: - That the term "sock puppet" reflects what a real sock puppet is: a fake personality operated by an actual personality. A sock puppet also happens to be the cheapest and easiest puppet to make, alluding to the glibness of the technique.
- See: Sock puppet
The first known usage of the term on July 9, 1993 in a posting[6] to bit.listserv.fnord-l, but was not in common usage in USENET groups until 1996. The term tentacle was also commonly used with similar meaning in Usenet[7] through the mid 90s. This article describes sock puppets in general. ...
This article describes sock puppets in general. ...
July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 175 days remaining. ...
1993 (MCMXCIII) 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 (USEr NETwork) is a global, distributed Internet discussion system that evolved from a general purpose UUCP network of the same name. ...
Commercial sock puppetry See Astroturfing. Astroturfing is a term for formal public relations campaigns in politics and advertising that seek to create the impression of being spontaneous, grassroots behavior. ...
Successful commercial websites, such as amazon.com, which employ a user-review and rating system are, by virtue of the potential for large monetary gains, highly vulnerable to Internet sock puppetry, for the purpose of self-promotion, and hence profiteering.
While it is so-far unproven, an author's time would be very well spent traveling around the U.S.A., writing his/her own complimentary reviews and reporting as invalid the reviews of others from 200 user accounts using 200 different Internet Cafes.
Activities such as reviewing other works, and even buying other works using sock puppet accounts, all lend weight to the illusion of independent approval of one's own product.
See also Sollog (born July 14, 1960 as John Patrick Ennis) is an American numerologist, mystic, and self-proclaimed psychic. ...
A shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services who pretends no association to the seller and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. ...
Nekama ) is a Japanese term used to describe a kind of internet sock puppet used on dating and personal sites. ...
A Do not feed the troll image In Internet terminology, a troll is someone who comes into an established community such as an online discussion forum, and posts inflammatory, rude, repetitive or offensive messages designed intentionally to annoy or antagonize the existing members or disrupt the flow of discussion, including...
This article describes sock puppets in general. ...
Astroturfing is a term for formal public relations campaigns in politics and advertising that seek to create the impression of being spontaneous, grassroots behavior. ...
Ones online reputation is similar to the conventional concept of reputation, but in cyberspace, where reputations can be easily made but just as easily broken, due to the high transfer of information and the lingering, semi-permanent nature of the world wide web. ...
References - ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8884-2003Jan31
- ^ http://www.tnr.com/suspended.mhtml
- ^ Cox, Ana Marie. "Making Mischief on the Web", Time, 2006-12-16. Retrieved on 2007-03-30.
- ^ Saunders, Anne. "Bass aide resigns after posing as opponent's supporter online", Boston Globe, Associated Press, 2006-09-26. Retrieved on 2007-03-30.
- ^ Onion: I'd Love This Product Even If I Weren't A Stealth Marketer. December 14, 2005
- ^ http://groups.google.com/group/bit.listserv.fnord-l/msg/d1b51c9c2d96469f
- ^ http://groups.google.com/group/comp.risks/msg/783ab30782c91e76
Ana Marie Cox (born September 23, 1972, in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is an American author and blogger, who was the founding editor of the political blog Wonkette, and widely considered synonymous with the title. ...
Time, (whose trademark is capitalized TIME) is a weekly American newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...
March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (90th in leap years). ...
The Boston Globe is the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and in the greater New England region. ...
The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...
March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (90th in leap years). ...
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