SockPuppet

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A sock puppet is anadditionalOnlineIdentityused by someone who already has anotherOnlineIdentityfor participating in a given community, particularly when done in a non-transparent manner and where the identities interact with each other in some way. The term originates with the metaphor of carrying on a conversation with oneself using a puppet in each hand.

This is the reverse of aDramaticIdentity.With aDramaticIdentity,multiple people might post under the same moniker. With a Sock Puppet, the same person posts under multiple identities. Some of the alternate identities may be automated "bots", but more often they're under manual control.

FlameWarriorsidentifiesSockPuppetusers as[Stealth].

Deception

Use of aSockPuppetis typically frowned on. The social convention against sock puppets arises from theRealWorld.We do not expect to discover that the guy who runs the coffee shop is also our neighbour, but with a fake mustache and beard. In most communities there is at least a social expectation, and sometimes a site policy, that each person will use only a single identity. Thus, use of sock puppets is aDeceptivePractice.

APenName(or anonymous posting) is about discretionary exposure of personally identifying information, and doesn't exclude the possibility of participating with a measure of integrity since discretion and deception are not at all the same thing. It is fair to expect that we all exercise a certain measure of discretion, but it is hoped that we do not engage in intentional deception. ASockPuppet,on the other hand, is dishonestly represented as being a unique individual, distinct from the existing identities already in use in the community.

However, a sock puppet can be open about the fact that it is a sock puppet. For example, a forum host might choose to participate under two names, one, say "Sys-op", for when they are giving official pronouncements as host, and one, say "Tall Boy", for when they are giving off-the-cuff personal opinions as an ordinary participant. There need be no intent to deceive here. Both names would bePenNames, but everyone would know they referred to the same real-world person.

In communities that engage in IdentityPlay?,SockPuppets, along withDramaticIdentityandIdentityTheft,are very much the norm, and their use is not deceptive.

Uses

By using several Sock Puppets all posting in favour of an idea, a dishonest person can give the impression that the idea has more grass-roots support than it really has. See alsoStuffingTheBallotBox,which is a similar problem in a more formal, voting context. Sock puppets make it harder to enforce "one man, one vote."

Sock puppet identities are disruptive in conversation because they are often used so that a person can ask questions of himself and appear to be carrying on a thread between two individuals.

Sock puppets breakSerialIdentityand thusIteratedPrisonersDilemma.They can defeatKillFiles (c.f.CommunityWiki:IgnorePeople) and reduce the effectiveness of other forms of rating/moderation that has different per-user behaviour (e.g.,SlashDot"karma" ). They also work againstSoftSecurityattempts toDissuadeInteraction,EnforceResponsibility,andAssumeGoodFaith.In a similar light, sock puppets are the most frequent means to circumvent attempts to apply an involuntaryCommunityExile.

Use of aSockPuppetmay also be a means for a member to avoid linking too visibly aRealNameactivity from aPenNameactivity on the net. It is not necessarily meant to be disruptive in the community itself. Thus someone may choose to have aRealNameidentity and aPenNameidentity in the same community.

--??

At lastSockPuppets can be used deliberately as a literary tool in aWikiConversation,as e.g. inLikePlusButton--FridemarPache

Dissuasion

Some communities, such asTheFreshPressandCafeUtne,have formal policies against multiple identities by non-administrative participants. If you switch identity, then the password is changed on your old identity so you can't use it. How well thisLegalSolutionworks in practice is debatable

Any medium which is effectively "world-writeable" is vulnerable to theSockPuppetphenomenon, whether wiki orPicoSpaninspired without identity verification. By contrast,TheWELLrequires a monthly payment for each user ID, providing anEconomicSolutionto sock puppetry. Thus it is a minimallyGatedCommunity.

Communities that make it relatively easy to switch UserIDs?,or that do not use them at all, provide relatively lower barriers to the use of Sock Puppets compared to sites that have more involved login/logout procedures. Sites that prominently identify the current logged-on user make it easier to conduct sock puppet conversations without slipping up.

eBay tacitly encourages use of multiple identities. Many books about eBay encourage sellers to use multiple identities, and virtually all discussion participants use a separate user ID than they use for selling.

"Sock puppets breakSerialIdentityand thusIteratedPrisonersDilemma."

If some person had an extra identity or two, each identity can have its ownSerialIdentity.Wouldn'tIteratedPrisonersDilemmawork just as well on those identities?

I generally think it's a good thing when a forum host posts under 2 different identities, one for official announcements and one for idle chit-chat.

And I am very sympathetic to people who switch to a different pen-name every couple of years to avoid drawing unwanted attention from those who refuse toForgiveAndForget.

Yes, "use-once throw-away identities" breaks one solution to some problems. And I agree that anything that breaks serial identity also breaks theIteratedPrisonersDilemma.

More and more I am seeing that, when a problem occurs, the first solution that comes to my mind is rarely the best solution â€” and occasionally the "solution" turns out to be a counter-productiveWiki:CureWorseThanTheDisease.

When "something keeps getting messed up", usually the first solution that comes to mind is "lock out all the people who mess it up". I am delighted to find that there is another solution to this problem, one implemented by (most) wiki: "make it easier to undo the mess-ups than it is to mess things up". This solution is (potentially) superior, because (unlike the first solution) it works even though all humans eventually mess up. --DavidCary

SockPuppet

Deception

Uses

Dissuasion

Related Topics

Discussion