Real World Event Discussions

Sockpuppet Rant

POSTED BY: Bytemite
UPDATED: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 14:07
VIEWED: 2737
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BYTEMITE

Monday, January 18, 2010 2:26 AM

Hi, everybody. So, yeah. This is going to be a rant. I'm going to try to be as nice as possible about this, and I'm not going to name names, but I think it's time for something more to be said about this.

As the past day went by, I found myself increasingly upset about this issue. Perhaps any new member we encounter is possibly a sockpuppet, but is this issue widespread enough for us to warrant treating any potential new member like they might be a sockpuppet? This treatment could be damaging, both to the potential new poster, and for our boards long term growth and usefulness as a communication platform.

It's in our best interests to give new folks the benefit of the doubt, just as we'd hope to be treated when wandering into a new community. Especially if we're asking for help and a safe haven to express ourselves and ask questions.

Sockpuppet itself is an insult, it's an attack on the credibility of the user, that they are not representing who they really are. The implication is that the user in question is being dishonest, or their original persona is unliked, or that they are being cowardly and expressing something their original persona would not say. As an ad hominem, it is not relevant to the debate.

We have no reason to think anyone on this board has some ulterior motive for being here that they need to conceal. You want a conspiracy theory? Not trusting each other will rip us apart long term, and I know this first hand.

KWICKO

Monday, January 18, 2010 2:37 AM

Well said, and you're 100% right. And I'm one of the dicks who was being an ass about it. Apologies to all.

We've gotten so intertwined in our own personal little battles that we're now seeing enemies where there are none, and it's shameful behavior. We're better than that, and we need to remember to BE better.

Thanks, Byte, for standing up for what's right.

And sorry, but your title just got screwed up, so I tried to correct it.

BYTEMITE

Monday, January 18, 2010 5:53 AM

It's okay, Kwicko. It doesn't make you an asshole, but it makes your personality different. You will have trouble with different things. There are some things that are asked that some people are just going to find difficult. For you, the sockpuppet thing became part of your snark factor. I recognize and even enjoy the snark factor part of your personality.

I can even understand being wary, I'm pretty wary myself a lot. Maybe it's about protecting ourselves and not letting people in, but then by doing so they're shut out in the cold. We have to be careful about that. That's all I'm saying. They're treading water, and I'm compelled to throw my hands in, and hope they catch hold so I can help pull them ashore.

>_> and, I can't deny that people have questioned if I'm two different people, I do have some vested interest here. But it really didn't bother me until yesterday and today. It hurts me somewhere, when I see someone asking for help, and just, you know. It'll get me into trouble someday, I know, I can be naive about answering the call. But it doesn't change the twisty tension feeling with the larynx and the sternohyroid.

FREMDFIRMA

Monday, January 18, 2010 6:03 AM

Ayep, that being one of my issues with it.

OTOH: I cut my teeth on ANSI text BBS's and can identify folk by their word and phrase choices, cadence of text and even misspellings much in the way telegraph operators can identify someone by the "fist" of the message, so if I call it, I'm usually pretty damned sure, mind you.

And I do give the benefit of the doubt, unless it's bloody OBVIOUS - because of the very problems you mention, which is what enrages me when folks use them as "backup" in an argument.

-F

FREMDFIRMA

Monday, January 18, 2010 9:22 AM

Also, yes... that need, to be NEEDED, also known as "Hero Complex" - it's one of the curses of being a Dark Spark, Byte, the damn near absolute inability to resist a call to aid by someone in real emotional distress because it echos your own pain and becomes an un-ignorable compulsion.

Just be glad you don't have it on the scale I do, resisting it being all but pointless, I chose to revel in it, Large Ham, side order of Cheese.

And I think that prolly just clued you in to the bloody reason for the dichotomy of an 'evil overlord' type whos purposes are anything but.

What's worse is that it's friggin REFLEX for us, even when there's real physical danger present, or your efforts may compound the situation, by the time coherent thought even catches up with you, you're already more than halfway there, and when "there" is a VERY dangerous situation, well....

-F

PIZMOBEACH

Monday, January 18, 2010 2:44 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
>_> and, I can't deny that people have questioned if I'm two different people, I do have some vested interest here. But it really didn't bother me until yesterday and today.

Sorry if I offended you Byte, I hope you know that wasn't my intention. Yes, I was curious about you and DT, so I rather impulsively jumped in with both feet - seemed better that than to just suspect it and not say anything.

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

NIKI2

Monday, January 18, 2010 5:31 PM

Okay, I haven't yet gotten down to the thread where Littlebird appeared, so I'm guessing things happened there which instigated this thread...if I'm wrong, ignore me.

Everything you said is right on, dear, and I agree 100%. Before I came here (well, before the OB actually), I'd never encountered a sock puppet (my internet forums have been limited to places where it's very, very hard to make a sockpuppet)--when I learned they existed here and even that they might be used frequently, it put me in a place where I questioned everyone at first, and I remain "fragile" about new people arriving under certain circumstances. As I said, I wondered; my instant reaction is to welcome newcomers and not think beyond that, but coming there and here has made me wary--probably moreso than people who are used to dealing with the issue.

Frem, it would be incredibly helpful, since you said you can spot them, if you would just MENTION that someone is/might be a sockpuppet when you can. Just knowing it's possible and that there's someone who will let me know it is would help me more than I can say; it would let me go on reacting with my normal instincts--to welcome all newcomers and trust them until they do something to make me feel otherwise. I'd reeeely like to go back to feeling that way.

I may have more to say once I've read the thread in question, and if this thread wasn't born out of that, please forgive...it just seemed it was and that maybe it was directed at me for being suspicious.

SIGNYM

Monday, January 18, 2010 5:48 PM

As a matter of personal policy, I treat every individually-identified poster as an individual, even if I suspect they're a sock puppet. As someone (was it you, BYTE?) said: even if you're addressing a sock puppet, you're STILL addressing the person behind the sock puppet. Personally, I don't care. I try to address the topic, not the person (although some peeps like Geezer have such a history with me that I veer off-course). Besides, I'm not that devious or that smart, so I kinda pick a strategy and stick with it, and taking people at their word is one of them. That way, I don't get tripped up on my own past behavior. Especially on a discussion forum, where it doesn't matter anyway!

BTW- I had a sock puppet for a bit- that was JKIDDO. I said earlier that it was me posting from a different computer... I regularly change my passwords and had simply not bothered to remember the SIGNYM password, and that particular PC insisted on remembering the old one. I made a point of remembering a changing the password on the PC, so my posts are now all under one name again.

NIKI2

Monday, January 18, 2010 6:06 PM

I'm not apologizing for my paranoia, it's part of who I am. My instinct has always been to take everyone I meet at face value until something makes me feel otherwise, and it's gotten me "taken" at times, to the point of putting my husband and I in about $75,000 debt once. IRL, I don't usually mind being wrong, but that was a helluva sting. I'd rather trust people until I know otherwise and I continue to do so most of the time. But I have got an issue about sock puppets, I admit.

For me, it would be helpful if, in a situation such as what you described, someone would put "It's me, Byte, I just can't use my usual handle" in their tag line or something...BUT THAT'S JUST ME. That's what I did on a couple of occasions where I was stuck in the same situation as you mentioned. I do know it's my own issue, however, and don't ask anyone to do ANYTHING because of me.

I admit I'm beginning to feel defensive about having questioned whether someone is real or not, and somewhat guilty that I am unable to take everyone at face value here now, so I'll try to stop explaining myself.

SIGNYM

Monday, January 18, 2010 6:15 PM

Niki, everyone is different. I speak for me. I'm kinda stupid, yanno? I have to stick with certain rules of thumb 'cause I'm not smart enough to do otherwise. But that's just me.

FWIW, IRL we got taken too: Cautiously tried to help someone split off from her dysfunctional family. Put a some thousand behind the effort, too. Turns out, we could not exert enough of a pull to get her to leave that situation behind, so now she's circling the drain with the rest of her relatives.