Sockpuppets in Fandom
(Yay, I finally get to use this icon.)
I recently read Dr. Merlin's article on sockpuppets, Sock It to Me, and I gotta say I had no idea people like this actually exist :/ I can understand the wanting attention thing - to an extent - but creating pseudo personae to praise yourself and your work? CREEPY. And downright sad.
For those of you who've been in fandom longer, is this something you've ever seen happen? How common is it? I'm in the middle of reading about the Ms. Scribe debacle that occurred in the HP fandom, and that was on a pretty large scale. It's pretty fascinating, and I'm impressed at how quickly someone thought to document this (and so thoroughly!). But now it makes me slightly paranoid.
If you're like me and don't know what a sockpuppet is:
a sockpuppet is an alternate online persona adopted by someone for the purposes of deception. Pen names can be forms of sockpuppetry, though that depends on execution. A writer with multiple pen names may cultivate a secondary cult of personality around the other name(s), going so far as to enter online discussions under both pseuds.
And the Ms. Scribe incident:
Take for example the case of Ms. Scribe, who finally got her wish of becoming one of the most (in)famous people in Harry Potter fandom, mainly by dint of turning out to be about a third of the total fans. In classic sockpuppetry fashion, she first created her primary account, then created bogus secondary accounts whose sole purpose were to praise her. Not content with that level of fame, she allegedly then created a series of fandom enemies to persecute her so that other fans would rally to her defense. She created other enemies who conveniently "blacklisted" her along with the Potter BNFs so we she would stand united with them. As a quick how-to guide of rocketing to fandom fame, she practically wrote the book. And in her wake, the Potter fandom (never known for being a shining light of stability or, dare I use the word, harmony) fractured and back-bit, and to this day some fans won't speak to others because of events that transpired thanks to Ms. S.
And apparently some common signs to watch out for sockpuppetry (have no idea how general this is):
- someone who posts a few things of his/her own, but seems to be fixated on another online person
- newly-created journals with no mutual friends (other than the obsession)
- someone whose rants center around one person with whom they've had no apparent prior interaction
- someone who posts rarely or never in a place where a third party can check her/his IP address
- crops of anonymous flamers
- crops of newly-created accounts who agree with the anonymous flamers
- any of the above who share colloquial turns of phrase as the original person
- and of course, anyone whose IP address matches the above (in the current debacle, someone appears to have used Photoshop to manipulate an IP address, which just adds another layer to the fail cake)
*hugs IP Address function option*
ETA @ 9:13pm: Edited for title since people seem to be confused, lol.
Just finished the entire Ms. Scribe story, and..WOW. Not only are the events gripping to read, but the way charlottelennox narrates the entire account is simply superb. Definitely recommending it to read.
I recently read Dr. Merlin's article on sockpuppets, Sock It to Me, and I gotta say I had no idea people like this actually exist :/ I can understand the wanting attention thing - to an extent - but creating pseudo personae to praise yourself and your work? CREEPY. And downright sad.
For those of you who've been in fandom longer, is this something you've ever seen happen? How common is it? I'm in the middle of reading about the Ms. Scribe debacle that occurred in the HP fandom, and that was on a pretty large scale. It's pretty fascinating, and I'm impressed at how quickly someone thought to document this (and so thoroughly!). But now it makes me slightly paranoid.
If you're like me and don't know what a sockpuppet is:
a sockpuppet is an alternate online persona adopted by someone for the purposes of deception. Pen names can be forms of sockpuppetry, though that depends on execution. A writer with multiple pen names may cultivate a secondary cult of personality around the other name(s), going so far as to enter online discussions under both pseuds.
And the Ms. Scribe incident:
Take for example the case of Ms. Scribe, who finally got her wish of becoming one of the most (in)famous people in Harry Potter fandom, mainly by dint of turning out to be about a third of the total fans. In classic sockpuppetry fashion, she first created her primary account, then created bogus secondary accounts whose sole purpose were to praise her. Not content with that level of fame, she allegedly then created a series of fandom enemies to persecute her so that other fans would rally to her defense. She created other enemies who conveniently "blacklisted" her along with the Potter BNFs so we she would stand united with them. As a quick how-to guide of rocketing to fandom fame, she practically wrote the book. And in her wake, the Potter fandom (never known for being a shining light of stability or, dare I use the word, harmony) fractured and back-bit, and to this day some fans won't speak to others because of events that transpired thanks to Ms. S.
And apparently some common signs to watch out for sockpuppetry (have no idea how general this is):
- someone who posts a few things of his/her own, but seems to be fixated on another online person
- newly-created journals with no mutual friends (other than the obsession)
- someone whose rants center around one person with whom they've had no apparent prior interaction
- someone who posts rarely or never in a place where a third party can check her/his IP address
- crops of anonymous flamers
- crops of newly-created accounts who agree with the anonymous flamers
- any of the above who share colloquial turns of phrase as the original person
- and of course, anyone whose IP address matches the above (in the current debacle, someone appears to have used Photoshop to manipulate an IP address, which just adds another layer to the fail cake)
*hugs IP Address function option*
ETA @ 9:13pm: Edited for title since people seem to be confused, lol.
Just finished the entire Ms. Scribe story, and..WOW. Not only are the events gripping to read, but the way charlottelennox narrates the entire account is simply superb. Definitely recommending it to read.