Friday, January 6, 2012
Internetz On the matter of sock puppetry
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Fri, Jan 6, 2012 at 4:15 PM
That said, there still are rules of semi-civilized cyber behavior. And, as silly as it may sound at first, one of our favorites basically comes down to this: Thou shalt keep it real. Let's face it, one of the prime selling points of the Internet is that it's supposed to be a place where you can find out what other people really think — from the citizen reviewers on Yelp! to your local neighborhood listserv to former Mayor Shirley Franklin's late-night blog comments.
But what if you learned that people were getting paid to post good reviews to Yelp!? Or that someone else was using Shirley's name to post her characteristically prickly missives? Or that half the comments in an online discussion on a particularly contentious Fresh Loaf blog item were written by the same person using different web handles?
Yeah, we're getting pretty tired of that shit here, too. Unfortunately, some folks over at City Hall have been spending quite a lot time in recent months on some heavy-duty sock-puppetry — typically taking the side of the Reed administration against some perceived adversary (the Council, then-school board Chairman Khaatim El and Council Prez Ceasar Mitchell, pension-reform opponents, etc.). (It should also be noted that there was online astroturfing aplenty during the 2009 mayoral race and that all sides appeared guilty.)
But things got way out of hand this week with a flurry of sockpuppet comments about the airport contract vote that were downright laughable in their obviousness.
Only, we're not laughing so much. And we plan to do something about it. CL encourages all its readers to share their opinions (not that Pistol Pete needs any encouragement). But we don't want them posting their opinion 15 times under different names because that undermines our efforts to create a forum where people can speak their minds and get a sense for what others are thinking. Also, we want to foster an online community of wise-asses, insiders and malcontents that doesn't need to worry about the conversation being hijacked by comment-bots.
Therefore, as soon as our web folks get all the logistics worked out, we're going to limit commenters to a single online identity. Plus, we're going to be more aggressive in dealing with apparent sock puppetry, deleting obviously fake comment and even banning violator's IP addresses when necessary.
You've already got anonymity if you want it, people; you don't need multiple aliases.
Comments (21)
Showing 1-21 of 21
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Great idea, it will raise to current value of my online identity from $.01 to nearly 25 cents, a few more divisive items concerning the mayor and I might be able to sell it for a happy hour PBR.
People can sock puppet all they want but a stupid opinion stated ten times is still a stupid opinion.
We can't even have one alter ego? What will become of Simple Pete? (he's not mine, but he's my favorite alter ego to which I have Pistol Pete to thank)!
And can you tell if the sock puppets were coming from a COA IP?
Since you asked, InAtl, yes, it appeared that a number of the comments came from the some of the same IP addresses within City Hall. We have no way of knowing how many came from the same computer — I suspect several people authored them — but it's uncool in any case.
Can anyone craft a good Open Records Act request to the City asking for information on using City resources for CL sock-puppetry?
Pussies. Let the babies have their bottle.
I will miss SimplePete.
jeez guys there is a difference between sock puppeting and concern trolling
I'm pretty sure Simple Pete get's grandfathered in... Unless he becomes the Mayor.
This is a good move, but I had already taken to limiting my responses to obvious "established" lunkhead-moron posters. Still, this'll help.
I hope this IP analyis reveals that Pistol/Simple Pete are same guy at last -- posting from the same PC at an internet cafe on Mallorca.
Hmm, I hope these City Hall sock puppets have a more complex understanding of government than they have of IP addresses, PR and the internets.
eric pfeifer you are the biggest trolling loser here, please die soon.
This is all well and good, but how do you propose to entice folks with more insider knowledge than the average citizen to come post?
I can think of a small handful of folks with City Hall connections in my limited neighborhood worlds, some i like and some i do not, but i don't know that any will get the word (esp given the article title) much less open themselve up to posting. Altho they're quite good at "spotting the staffer." (I know they read, but i don't think any ever post)
Also, if any of these better connected folks post and air dirty laundry (not that Emperor Reed has any clothes to begin with), how can you assure them of legal protection for "talking out of turn" ?
Thanks Scott, so people inside City Hall taking time to post nonsense and their boss, Mayor Reed then using the same senseless and thin skinned attacks at the council meeting.
My respect for his administration has dropped.
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