question

reb · 03-16-2010, 06:11 PM

what exactly is a ''sock puppet?'',heard yall mention that term several times and have no clue what it actually means.
from what i gather through deduction it's a person acting as several different people???

robkelk · 03-16-2010, 06:19 PM

Yes.

The term comes from Usenet, or possibly pre-Usenet mailing lists, where it was all-too-common to post to contentious threads under multiple email addresses to make it look like other people agreed with your position. The behaviour was likened to someone talking out of his own mouth and the mouths of the sock puppets he was wearing on his hands - while at a first casual glance it looked like three people were talking, a closer look showed that in reality only one person was making all that noise.

It's seen as an unfriendly act on Usenet, in that it acts to stifle actual debate. (Somebody sees all the "agreement" on a topic, thinks "If all those people say that, maybe they're right and I'm wrong and I shouldn't look like an idiot by posting," and doesn't add his opinion.)

sir_pudding · 03-16-2010, 06:20 PM

Yes, that's pretty much it. A second account for the same user.

darksaba · 03-16-2010, 06:21 PM

A sockpuppet is a person with multiple accounts and possible forum personas. There are lots of reasons to create a sockpuppet, 99.9% of them are bad. Often they're used as weapons in flame wars and trolling. They also get used lots in arguments, if you and I have an argument then its just you and me, but if I bring along my imaginary friends then your voice tends to get drowned out. If you look through the "Banned" thread you'll notice that whenever someone is banned for sockpuppeting there are several usernames banned at the same time.

Hope this was understandable.

03-16-2010, 06:11 PM	#1
reb Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: phoenix az	question what exactly is a ''sock puppet?'',heard yall mention that term several times and have no clue what it actually means. from what i gather through deduction it's a person acting as several different people??? __________________ if your in a fair fight,you did'nt plan it properly..

03-16-2010, 06:19 PM	#2
robkelk Untitled Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: between keyboard and chair	Re: question Yes. The term comes from Usenet, or possibly pre-Usenet mailing lists, where it was all-too-common to post to contentious threads under multiple email addresses to make it look like other people agreed with your position. The behaviour was likened to someone talking out of his own mouth and the mouths of the sock puppets he was wearing on his hands - while at a first casual glance it looked like three people were talking, a closer look showed that in reality only one person was making all that noise. It's seen as an unfriendly act on Usenet, in that it acts to stifle actual debate. (Somebody sees all the "agreement" on a topic, thinks "If all those people say that, maybe they're right and I'm wrong and I shouldn't look like an idiot by posting," and doesn't add his opinion.) __________________ Rob Kelk “Every man has a right to his own opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.” – Bernard Baruch, Deming (New Mexico) Headlight, 6 January 1950 No longer reading these forums regularly.

03-16-2010, 06:20 PM	#3
sir_pudding Wielder of Smart Pants Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Ventura CA	Re: question Yes, that's pretty much it. A second account for the same user.

03-16-2010, 06:21 PM	#4
darksaba Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Cardiff UK	Re: question A sockpuppet is a person with multiple accounts and possible forum personas. There are lots of reasons to create a sockpuppet, 99.9% of them are bad. Often they're used as weapons in flame wars and trolling. They also get used lots in arguments, if you and I have an argument then its just you and me, but if I bring along my imaginary friends then your voice tends to get drowned out. If you look through the "Banned" thread you'll notice that whenever someone is banned for sockpuppeting there are several usernames banned at the same time. Hope this was understandable. __________________ Whats worse, thinking you're paranoid, or knowing you should be? Google+