SOCK PUPPET POLICY

[Anonymous]

Jeff,
Folks are accusing posters of being sock puppets on the thread about bullying on the Independent School Forum.
You already called out the OP for sock puppeting.
If it continued, would you do the same?
What is your policy?
Thanks.
P.S. You were great on the radio on Monday!

[jsteele]

If I notice sock puppeting, I will call it out. The original poster of that thread was very blatant and it was easy to notice. Not all sock puppeting is so obvious. If people suspect sock puppeting or other inappropriate posting, I'd prefer that they use the "report" button to let me know. Nothing ruins a thread faster than everyone calling each other sock puppets and trolls.

[Anonymous]

So, if the sock puppet on that threat reappeared, you'd call it out?
Thanks.

[Anonymous]

What the hell is sock puppeting!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What the hell is sock puppeting!?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sockpuppet_%28Internet%29

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:So, if the sock puppet on that threat reappeared, you'd call it out?
Thanks.

If I spotted it. But, frankly, the past few days have been very busy. So, I've had limited time for sock puppet hunting (though normally that's one of my favorite activities).

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, if the sock puppet on that threat reappeared, you'd call it out?
Thanks.

If I spotted it. But, frankly, the past few days have been very busy. So, I've had limited time for sock puppet hunting (though normally that's one of my favorite activities).

[Anonymous]

Jeff -- what are the signs of a sock puppet?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Jeff -- what are the signs of a sock puppet?

You can often tell a sock puppet simply by the writing style or the fact that the dialogue seems a little unnatural. I have a number of other ways to detect them, but I'm not going to reveal them. Of course, IP address is one, but not the only, factor that I go by.

[Anonymous]

Also look for the seam on the end of its nose. And no ears either.

[Anonymous]

So if you find a sock puppet you will out them no matter what, even if there is no flaming going on -- like someone promoting a business or medical practice? (My pet peeve.)

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:So if you find a sock puppet you will out them no matter what, even if there is no flaming going on -- like someone promoting a business or medical practice? (My pet peeve.)

I can't imagine an acceptable reason to sock puppet. Frequently, I see cases that don't seem to be causing trouble and I just silently delete the threads. There's no reason to make every transgression into a crime, but no reason to allow it either.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So if you find a sock puppet you will out them no matter what, even if there is no flaming going on -- like someone promoting a business or medical practice? (My pet peeve.)

I can't imagine an acceptable reason to sock puppet. Frequently, I see cases that don't seem to be causing trouble and I just silently delete the threads. There's no reason to make every transgression into a crime, but no reason to allow it either.

Interesting, I've participated in a few threads that have disappeared and wondered why. Maybe you could lock them and leave a little sock puppet symbol.

[Anonymous]

Could you just delete the offending posts and allow the more productive parts of the dialogue to continue?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Could you just delete the offending posts and allow the more productive parts of the dialogue to continue?

I do that as well when practical. But, take the Maret bullying thread as an example, the thread would have been non-sensical if I had done that. I cam pretty close to deleting the thread, but decided to just call out the sock puppet. Surprisingly, the sock puppet couldn't have cared less about being called out.