Also see:
- See Part I — How to Avoid a Blogosphere Scandal: Disclose!
- Part II — How to Avoid a Blogosphere Scandal: Don’t Plagiarize!
I’m not a big fan of the anonymous (or pseudonymous) blogger or commenter.
I blog under my name, spreading controversial ideas and unorthodox opinions that people like me usually don’t write about or utter in public.
Every now and then something I write generates a wave of dissent throughout the blogosphere. A couple of weeks ago, I endured the wrath of homosexual bloggers and commenters because I dared use the word homosexual in a less than favorable context. I used to think black liberal dissenters were the worst sort. I was wrong on so many levels. Tolerance is a word entirely devoid of meaning in this PC age, and those demanding it of others the loudest don’t practice it themselves. Hypocrisy and irony come to mind.
Last year I was called “anti-Catholic” because I made biblical assertions in reference to the recently departed Roman Catholic pope (at the request of Catholic readers, ironically), and several bloggers “de-linked” me. And the usual self-hater, race traitor rhetoric almost always sent by people using obviously phony names, appears in my inbox from time to time, though less frequently than it used to.
It takes nerve to write what I write and use my real name online, a virtual world inhabited by all sorts, including perverts, maniacs, and just plain old bored fools who get off cyber-harassing others. Don’t take it personally, anonymous bloggers and commenters, but my online experiences have biased me against anonymity, especially from commenters who do nothing but criticize my views.
For these and other reasons, I admire people who blog under their real names. But I understand why some don’t or can’t use their real names. Perhaps they’re whistleblowing employees trying to expose nefarious acts and avoid reprisal at the same time. Others may be concerned about their physical safety or worried that an idiot scoundrel will post their home addresses on the web. Some bloggers use their blogs as online journals, writing about their jobs, relationships, and other issues, and don’t want to be fired or hurt friends and family.
Although I believe people should stand behind what they say, write, and do with their real names, there are exceptions, of course. But one thing that’s unacceptable is taking on a different persona with the intent to deceive.
Sockpuppetry
The sock puppet is the anonymous commenter’s cousin. When someone comments on a blog, pretending to be someone else rather than merely commenting anonymously, it’s considered sockpuppetry. For example, let’s say I responded to a La Shawn-hating blogger’s nasty post in his comment section and pretended to be a “friend” or supporter of La Shawn’s. That’s sockpuppetry.
When discovered committing sockpuppetry, the person usually is subject to ridicule. Unless the sock puppet is using a proxy or surfing anonymously through some other method, it’s pretty easy to tell if the same person is leaving comments under different names. The clever sock puppet and/or a geek knows how to avoid detection; the rest don’t. The same IP address will be attached to all comments, which indicates the person is using the same computer or home or business network.
Personal Note
I wish I could say I’ve never done this, but I have. On an Air America discussion board last year, I posted a link to a controversial post on my blog that was related to the discussion. I used a different name but left my real e-mail address. Someone googled it, traced it back to me, and played the gnat buzzing around my head for weeks.
In my own defense, I didn’t adopt a different persona. The topic had nothing to do with me, so it wasn’t a sockpuppetry defense. But it wasn’t a mere anonymous comment, either. I used an alias because I didn’t want to be accused of fishing for readers, which is exactly what I was doing. Lesson learned.
Recent Scandals
The following people have been accused of sockpuppetry. I make no claims about whether some accusations are true:
John Lott — Several years ago, someone using the name “Mary Rosh” began appearing on the web, defending John Lott, author of The Bias Against Guns, in Usenet groups and writing favorable reviews of his books. Lott’s pro-gun books were controversial in their own right, but his “Mary Rosh” facade provided more grist for the mill. All it took was a few geeks to uncover the truth: Lott was most likely Mary Rosh. He eventually confessed.
Related:
Michael Hiltzik — Blogger Patterico exposed this Los Angeles Times columnist and one-time blogger as a sock puppet. Patterico’s niche is fact-checking the paper, and Hiltzik appeared under various aliases to defend his and the newspaper’s work and criticize Patterico.
One would think that people pretending to be someone else and/or leaving nasty comments would know all about IP addresses. You should see some of the filth left on this blog by people commenting from their work computers. Bird-brains.
With a little IP checking, Patterico realized that “people” leaving comments under the name “Mikekoshi” and several other aliases were doing so from the same computer. And get this: Hiltzik used his work computer. He was suspended briefly from the newspaper, and lost his business column and blog gig.
Related:
Glenn Greenwald — Several bloggers accused liberal blogger Glenn Greenwald of sockpuppetry. Leading the charge were Jeff Goldstein at Protein Wisdom, Ace of Spades, and Patterico. Commenters defending Greenwald under different names did so in a similar fashion. For instance, they mentioned his best-selling book, that he became a popular blogger very quickly, that a United States senator quoted his blog in Senate hearings, etc. Other bloggers noticed that “Thomas Ellers,” “Ellison,” “Wilson,” and others left similar comments from the same IP address, a provider in Brazil, where Greenwald lives.
Greenwald denied the sock puppet charges.
There are other sockpuppetry accusations floating around, but those are the most recent and most well-known.
Astroturfing
If anonymous commenting is sockpuppetry’s cousin, astroturfing is its brother. Astroturfing is a mainly business blogging phenomenon. The typical context: a company asks its employees to leave favorable comments about its products or clients’ products on blogs and discussion boards, playing the role of satisfied customer. It’s a form of viral marketing that just doesn’t work in the blogosphere. Bloggers fancy themselves “transparent” and place great emphasis on open and genuine conversations in the age of citizen journalism and social media. When a public relations flack tries to infiltrate the blogosphere and manipulate opinion based on deception, they’re in for it.
Pierce Mattie PR — A beauty blogger named Jackie Danicki accused the PR firm of using minions (employees?) to leave favorable comments on beauty blogs, pretending to be customers. PR blogger Steve Rubel and others reported the story. The president of the company responded on Rubel’s blog.
Related:
- Astroturfing (Wikipedia)
Just Don’t Do It
Believe me, I understand the frustration of having a bunch of nimrods misread and mischaracterize your writing. But sockpuppetry is not worth the embarrassment, and it reveals a serious lack of judgment and foresight.
Bloggers, there is no point in committing sockpuppetry and opening yourselves up to ridicule and damaged credibility, especially if you’re blogging under your real names, anyway.
PR firms and other business, if you think astroturfing is a clever way to generate publicity about products, services, and clients, you’re right. Once bloggers find out what you’ve done — pretending to be satisfied customers commenting on blogs under phony names — you will indeed generate publicity.
We’re all connected, and as long as net neutrality is still the law of the virtual jungle, even the smallest blog, the tiniest voice, has the power to expose you and ruin your hard-earned reputation.
Just don’t do it.
Update (9/2): More sockpuppetry.
Update II (9/5): High profile sockpuppetry. How embarrassing for the unfortunate man, who brought it all on himself…
