A sockpuppet is an online identity used for purposes of deception within an online community. In its earliest usage, a sockpuppet was a false identity through which a member of an Internet community speaks with or about himself or herself, pretending to be a different person,[1] like a ventriloquist manipulating a hand puppet.
In current usage, the perception of the term has been extended beyond second identities of people who already post in a forum or blog to include other uses of misleading online identities. For example, a New York Times article claims that "sockpuppeting" is defined as "the act of creating a fake online identity to praise, defend or create the illusion of support for one's self, allies or company."[2]
The key difference between a sockpuppet and a regular pseudonym (sometimes termed an "alt" which is short for alternate, as in alternate identity) is the pretense that the puppet is a third party who is not affiliated with the puppeteer or acting under their control for their benefit. The earliest known[1] usage of the term was on July 9, 1993 by Dana Rollins in a posting to bit.listserv.fnord-l,[3] but the term was not in common usage in USENET groups until 1996.
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Notable public examples
Notable examples involving public figures in recent years include:
- John Lott, author of More Guns, Less Crime, who, between 2000 and 2003, posted under the "sockpuppet" name of "Mary Rosh",[4] 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". One such comment, defending Siegel's bad reviews of Jon Stewart: "Siegel is brave, brilliant and wittier than Stewart will ever be."[5][6]
- In 2006, a top staffer for then-US Congressman Charlie Bass (R-NH) was caught posing as a "concerned" supporter of Bass's opponent Democrat Paul Hodes on several liberal New Hampshire 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".[7]
- In January 2007, the press secretary of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Peter Ragone, admitted that he posted pro-Newsom comments to the blog SFist from his computer variously as "John Nelson" (a friend) or as "Byorn." The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Ragone stated that "he answered Newsom's critics using others' names because being online 'was fun — it's where people are having fun."[8]
- In 2007, the CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, was discovered to have posted on the Yahoo Finance Message Board, extolling his own company and predicting a dire future for their rival Wild Oats Markets while concealing his own relationship to both companies under the screen name "Rahodeb".[9]
- On January 13, 2009, a councillor from Bournemouth, England Ben Grower was exposed by the Daily Echo newspaper for repeatedly posting comments praising himself, and fellow Labour councillors, on the newspaper's website using many sockpuppets, one of which was named "Omegaman". When questioned about the matter Grower was initially ambiguous in his response but later he admitted it was true saying "I have done nothing against the law. And probably next time I will just use a different pseudonym."[10] The story of Grower's sockpuppetry was covered widely in the media.[11][12][13][14][15]
- In April 2010 the British historian Orlando Figes was exposed as having written critical reviews of books by professional rivals on the Amazon website under the name 'historian'.[16]
- In April 2011 the American cartoonist Scott Adams admitted using the pseudonym PlannedChaos to pose as one of his own fans on the link-sharing sites Reddit and MetaFilter.[17]
Notable state examples
- In 2011, a Californian company, Ntrepid, was given a $2.76 million contract under the auspices of US Central Command for "online persona management" operations[18] with the aim of creating 10 "fake online personas to influence net conversations and spread US propaganda".[18][19]
Strawman sockpuppet
A strawman sockpuppet is a false flag pseudonym created by a user with one point of view that acts as though the puppet has an opposing point of view, in order to make that point of view look bad and generate negative sentiment towards that view. Such sockpuppets will typically advance foolish or weak "straw man" arguments that their puppeteers can then easily refute. They often act in an unintelligent, uninformed, or bigoted manner. Their effect is to discredit more rational arguments for the same side.
Meatpuppet
The term meatpuppet or "meat puppet" is used as a pejorative description for a number of quite different online behaviors. The term had a long history before the Internet, including Ursula Le Guin's science fiction story "The Diary of the Rose" (1976),[20] the alternative rock band Meat Puppets, a TV series broadcast in 1980 and featuring Wil Wheaton, and cyberpunk novelist William Gibson's Neuromancer (1984).[21]. Editors of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia use "meat puppet" to deprecate contributions from a new community member if the new member was (apparently) recruited by an existing member only to back up the recruiting member's position.[22] The person is implied to be analogous to a sockpuppet in function and goals, but a real separate person (i.e. "meat") rather than fictitious. Wired columnist Lore Sjöberg puts "meat puppet" first on a satirical list of "common terms used at Wikipedia," giving its supposed Wikipedia meaning as "a person who disagrees with you".[23]
A number of other online sources, however, use the term "meatpuppet" for varied sockpuppet behaviors. For example, according to one online encyclopedia, a meat puppet "publishes comments on blogs, wikis and other public venues about some phenomenon or product in order to generate public interest and buzz"—that is, engages in the kind of behavior more widely known as astroturfing.[24] A 2006 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education stated, "The 'meat puppet' is a peculiar inhabitant of the digital world—a fictional character that passes for a real person online."[25][26]
Ballot stuffing
Sockpuppets may be created during an online poll to submit multiple votes in favor of the puppeteer. A related usage is creating multiple identities, each supporting the puppeteer's views in an argument, attempting to position the puppeteer as representing majority opinion and sideline opposition voices. In the abstract theory of social networks and reputation systems, this is known as a sybil attack.
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.[27][28] A single such sockpuppet is acting as a shill; creating large numbers of them to fake a "grass-roots" upswelling of support for a cause is known as astroturfing.
U.S. legal implications of sockpuppeting
- In 2008, 49-year-old Missouri resident Lori Drew was prosecuted and convicted in Los Angeles for creating a fake MySpace account where she claimed to be a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans. Drew's goal had been to create a relationship with Megan Meier, a 13-year-old girl who had been in conflict with Drew's daughter. After "Josh" ended the relationship with Megan, Megan committed suicide. Drew's conviction was for misrepresenting her identity, in violation of the MySpace terms of service. The Los Angeles U.S. Attorney successfully claimed that this was covered by federal computer fraud legislation against "accessing a computer without authorization via interstate commerce."[29][30] Drew appealed the verdict, saying that her use of a false identity did not constitute unauthorized access to MySpace, based on a 1973 breach of contract dispute where a court of appeals ruled that "fraudulently induced consent is consent nonetheless."[31] On 3 July 2009, the appeal was tentatively upheld.[32]
- In 2010, Raphael Golb was convicted on 30 out of 31 counts, including identity theft, criminal impersonation and aggravated harassment, for using multiple sockpuppet accounts to attack and impersonate historians he perceived as rivals of his father.[33] Golb defended his actions as "satirical hoaxes" that were protected by free-speech rights. He has been disbarred and sentenced to six months in prison, but remains free on appeal on $25,000 bail.[34]
See also
- Astroturfing
- False flag
- On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog
- Online reputation
- Passing (sociology)
- Shill
- Troll (Internet)
References
- ^ a b "Definition of sockpuppet". WordSpy.com. http://www.wordspy.com/words/sockpuppet.asp.
- ^ Stone, Brad (July 16, 2007). "The Hand That Controls the Sock Puppet Could Get Slapped". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/16/technology/16blog.html?ex=1342238400&en=9a3424961f9d2163&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss.
- ^ Dana Rollins (July 9, 1993). "Arty/Scotto:". Groups Google Groups. (Web link). Retrieved June 3, 2009. "... one is merely the sock puppet manifestation of the other..."
- ^ Morin, Richard (February 1, 2003). "Scholar Invents Fan To Answer His Critics". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8884-2003Jan31. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
- ^ Aspan, Maria (September 4, 2006). "New Republic Suspends an Editor for Attacks on Blog". NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/04/technology/04republic.html?ex=1315022400&en=cc629c6ec5d5805d&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss. Retrieved June 11, 2007.
- ^ Cox, Ana Marie (December 16, 2006). "Making Mischief on the Web". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570701,00.html. Retrieved March 30, 2007.
- ^ Saunders, Anne (September 27, 2006). "Bass aide resigns for fake website postings". Concord Monitor. Associated Press. http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/bass-aide-resigns-for-fake-website-postings. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
- ^ Sward, Susan (February 18, 2007). "Tough times for Peter Ragone". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/18/BAGASO71MR1.DTL. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
- ^ Martin, Andrew (July 12, 2007). "Whole Foods Executive Used Alias". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/business/12foods.html.
- ^ "Website praise for Bournemouth councillor comes from... councillor! (From Bournemouth Echo)". Bournemouth Echo. January 13, 2009. http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/4041976.Website_praise_for_Bournemouth_councillor_comes_from____councillor_. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
- ^ "Councillor posted messages on website praising his own work". Telegraph. January 13, 2009. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4228167/Councillor-posted-messages-on-website-praising-his-own-work.html. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
- ^ "Mystery author who heaped praise on hard-working councillor is revealed... to be the councillor himself". Mail Online. January 13, 2009. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1113946/Mystery-author-heaped-praise-hard-working-councillor-revealed--councillor-himself.html. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
- ^ Lesley Richardson, Press Association (January 15, 2009). "Councillor used pseudonym to praise own work". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/councillor-used-pseudonym-to-praise-own-work-1333346.html. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
- ^ "Councillor used false name to praise own work". AFP. Google News. January 13, 2009. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5inxM_Mv7Vk7pKgzhZbnb_-Ie-cmg. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
- ^ "Pat on own back: Councillor says Daily Echo should take responsibility for his online alter ego". Editors' Blog. Journalism.co.uk. http://blogs.journalism.co.uk/editors/2009/01/13/pat-on-own-back-councillor-says-daily-echo-should-take-responsibility-for-his-online-alter-ego/. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
- ^ Richard Lea and Matthew Taylor "Historian Orlando Figes admits posting Amazon reviews that trashed rivals", The Guardian, 23 April 2010
- ^ Chen, Adrian (April 15, 2011). "Dilbert Creator Pretends to Be His Own Biggest Fan on Message Boards". Gawker. http://gawker.com/#!5792583/dilbert-creator-pretends-to-be-his-own-biggest-fan-on-message-boards. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
- ^ a b Nick Fielding and Ian Cobain, "Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media", guardian.co.uk, 17 March 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
- ^ Lewis Bazley, "Combating jihadists and free speech: How the U.S. military is using fake online profiles to spread propaganda", dailymail.co.uk, 18 March 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
- ^ Le Guin, Ursula (1976). "The Diary of the Rose". In Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. Future Power: A Science Fiction Anthology. Random House. p. 17. ISBN 0394494202. http://books.google.com/books?ei=NIm9TZiuKaPq0QGe9pXMBQ&ct=result&id=J4CyAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22meat+puppets%22. Retrieved 2011-04-31.
- ^ Nayar, Pramod (2004). Virtual Worlds. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. p. 123. ISBN 0761932283.
- ^ Česky (February 21, 2008). "Wikipedia policy on meatpuppets". Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:MEAT. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
- ^ Lore Sjöberg (January 4, 2009). "The Wikipedia FAQK". Wired.com. http://www.wired.com/software/webservices/commentary/alttext/2006/04/70670. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
- ^ http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=meat+puppet
- ^ Read, Brock (9 October 2006) The Chronicle of Higher Education: The Wired Campus Attack of the 'Meat Puppets'
- ^ Ahrens, Frank (7 October 2006) Washington Post Emerge as Internet's Effective, and Deceptive, Salesmen Page D01
- ^ Sweney, Mark (May 21, 2008). ""Should stealth marketing be regulated?"". Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2008/may/21/shouldcommercialbloggingbe. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
- ^ "I'd Love This Product Even If I Weren't A Stealth Marketer". The Onion. 14 December 2005. http://www.theonion.com/content/node/43456.
- ^ "Cyberbullying verdict turns rule-breakers into criminals". The Globe and Mail (CTVglobemedia). December 4, 2008. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081204.wgtweb05/BNStory/Technology/home.
- ^ "Lori Drew is a meanie". Slate (The Washington Post Company). December 3, 2008. http://www.slate.com/id/2205952/pagenum/all/.
- ^[dead link]"Lori Drew Files New Bid for Dismissal on Grounds that MySpace Authorized Access". Wired News (Condé Nast Publishing). December 15, 2008. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/12/lori-drew-attor.html.
- ^ "Lori Drew cleared of MySpace cyber-bullying". Sydney Morning Herald. July 3, 2009. http://www.smh.com.au/technology/lori-drew-cleared-of-myspace-cyberbullying-20090703-d6s0.html.
- ^ "Dispute Over Dead Sea Scrolls Leads to a Jail Sentence" (November 18, 2010) New York Times
- ^ "NY lawyer gets jail in Dead Sea Scrolls case" (November 18, 2010) AP
External links
- Sock puppet Jargon File
- US Psychological operation will use Sock puppetry to manipulate social media
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