Can Somebody Explain This?

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2008
Can Somebody Explain This?
6
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 12:20pm
Why in the world would one person post under more than one name? What is the reasoning behind this?
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-15-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 12:45pm
Sure. It's called sockpuppetry, the creating of multiple personalities under which one can post, so as to make it appear as if there are a lot of people who agree with one's point of view, when in fact many of them (or at least one other) is merely one's self, under a different name. Sort of like Charlie McCarthy agreeing with Edgar Bergen, if you know what I mean.

I have posted here under more than one name, but never simultaneously. Frankly, anyone who feels like they need to invent a person or three and put words of agreement in their mouths just to feel steady in their own opinion(s)....well, that says a lot more about the person than they might wish to reveal...or than any of the ideas they're pushing.


But for the present age, which prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, representation to reality, appearance to essence.....truth is considered profane, and only illusion sacred. Sacredness
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 12:57pm
So.... If I put someone on "ignore", then their sock puppet can still follow me around and post to me? Is that also how it works? I think it seems pretty silly.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-15-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 1:07pm

The "ignore" button works on a per-poster basis. If someone's gone to the trouble of creating an entirely separate identity with a different login, etc, then yes. However, all it takes is one click from you, and voila! No more sock puppet, either. And it's much easier for you to hit one "ignore" button than it is for someone else to keep making new identitites. Also, there's no way to tell if someone's put you on "ignore," either - no CONCLUSIVE way, at any rate. The fact that they don't answer your questions might be a clue, but if you've put someone on ignore, there's no way for them to tell right away that you've done so. In short: it's a lot easier to not have to view the posts of people you don't want, than it is to force someone to read something you've written.

There's also the time-tested method (if someone should sneak by your defenses) of realizing that it's a post you don't want to read and....stopping reading it.



But for the present age, which prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, representation to reality, appearance to essence.....truth is considered profane, and only illusion sacred. Sacredness
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 1:19pm
I still think the whole "sock puppet" thing is very silly.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-15-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 1:50pm

Well, then, now that you know what it is, you can make a point of never engaging in it!

However, neither you nor I determines what OTHERS do - or don't do. Saying "it's very silly" isn't going to make it go away.



But for the present age, which prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, representation to reality, appearance to essence.....truth is considered profane, and only illusion sacred. Sacredness
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 1:55pm
I don't care if it goes away or not. But it is very silly.