Alternative existences and sock puppets?

[khanjar]

Any on here, not being malicious or anything like that, but of the former, the alternative existence, are there people with multiple profiles here to say perhaps separate a professional from a private existence ?

Facebook is full of it and a few websites I use, but of one it turned out of four separate profiles on one website someone narrowed it down to one user and that user did not know they had a split personality disorder, so they ended up in therapy, so the multiple profile thing actually helped someone in that respect.

Sock puppets, they can usually be weeded out, but what does anyone think ?

 

[Aniseteph]

No sock puppets from me (ooh they all say that though, don't they...? ).

Seriously, I'll will put my hand up to different existences on different sites although I'm the same for all my on-line belly dance interests. I've only got the one FB account, under my real name because I mostly use it for real life stuff, though I'm not very active on that. And a YouTube/Google one under an alias that I only use for saving favourites on YouTube. Since it got Googlised I log out whenever I'm not using it. Big Brother can mind his own business, IMO, and quit trying to make me buy what I just looked at. WTH is that all about - if I just looked at something on a site and either bought it or didn't WHY would I be interested in being stalked round the web by ads for the same thing? [/rant]

The whole privacy thing skeeves me out, which is why I'm not big on FB and don't like linking up my on-line existences.

I guess those with mod-power can weed out the obvious sock puppets if they cause trouble, though I quite enjoy a good sock-puppet outing, same as light troll baiting, as long as no one is getting upset.

 

[Creaky Old Dancer]

alternative existences and sock puppets

What's a sock puppet?

 

[Darshiva]

A sock puppet secondary fake account.



I have multiple profiles around the place, different accounts for different purposes, although that's mostly emails. For forums I find it gets confusing enough with one profile let alone adding more to the mix. I have two youtube accounts, one for me & one for my business. I do NOT have a personal facebook account.

 

[Kashmir]

I normally check 9 email accounts - although there are actually more as some are redirected. Facebook can get nasty if they think you have mulitiple accounts - but if I was to do that I'd have one for dance and one for non-dance .

Generally I have three identities on the net - dancer, programmer and family member. They are not rigidly separated but rather hold information of interest to the target group - few of my dance contacts are interested in programing and even fewer techies and employers are interested in belly dance.

 

[Amanda (was Aziyade)]

Generally I have three identities on the net - dancer, programmer and family member. They are not rigidly separated but rather hold information of interest to the target group - few of my dance contacts are interested in programing and even fewer techies and employers are interested in belly dance.

This. I have one for dance, one for being Mommy, and one for Amanda.

My FB profile combines all three, sort of, but I have claimed every iteration of my dance business name on Facebook pages because of some trouble with name-confusion in the past.

I think having more than one internet "presence" isn't the same as having a sock-puppet. Sock puppets are usually set up specifically to leave anonymous hateful comments (or promote one's own ventures, pretending to be a student or client) without the resulting backlash.

 

[Janene Aliza]

Thanks for the explanations....reading the thread title put the image of someone being reincarnated as a literal sock puppet in my head (LOL) :lol:

 

[Mosaic]

I belong to 2 forums only (This one I log in too in the morning and it stays logged in all day even if I am not at the computer, the other I visit maybe once or twice a month) and have an FB account which is a mish mash of everything and listed under my own name with Mosaic/Mosaika attached - not a big user of FB. I did have a google plus account but found it just a nuisance and deleted it. Mosaic is my main internet persona - Mosaika gets used if Mosaic is taken.

We can weed out sock-puppets & multiple accounts here and do when we find them The rules on this and most other forums are one account only per person.
~Mosaic

 

[Duvet]

My identity on line (Duvet) is not my real identity (Ivor), but this is the first forum I’ve ever contributed to, so I thought it was the normal procedure. I have recollections of the old CB radio handles, so it just seemed the done thing. People have always used alternate names (George Eliot, Sting and Banksy spring to mind). It’s normally publicity, but in the entertainment business (and criminal fraternity) it is often safety too.

Different people also know me by different names in ‘real’ life – Ive, Walt, Aunty Dora, Oscar, Bob, Mr.D, etc – for different reasons (nicknames, mis-hearings or self-labels), and I'm sure other people given me names I'm unaware of. They’ve met me at different times in my life, and my habits, interests and needs have changed. That’s the variety of life.

But as to deceptive identities online; they are not always malicious, but often they are recognisable after a while (either they only appear the once or they are too full on – yes I think I’ve seen some of them on this forum). But I can only take people as they are when they appear before me, either first hand or (less so) second hand. I try not to spend time second guessing behaviour towards me (although I do second guess reactions to what I do). People hide behind personas on line and in the ‘real’ world. For business reasons it makes sense to me to seperate it from personal life (like having a POBox address for business mail).

From my side, I try to behave in equal measure with everyone I interact with. If I deceive, it is unintentional or is due to the other person's assumptions or preconceptions. I find one life complicated enough without inventing others. Perhaps people use ‘sock puppets’ from lack of security, or attempting to push a response – a bit like placing a plant in an auction house in order to start or inflate bidding. Maybe others enjoy the sense of power, or just seek attention.

 

[Shanazel]

I'm Shanazel here, Shoshanna on a rarely visited health issue forum, and Margarita on two biker sites. I have an e-mail account for my writing career, an e-mail account for online purchases, an e-mail account for performance and art, and an e-mail account for all those people who send me crap I never read. I have a Facebook account under my real name to keep up with my cousins and distant friends who can't commnicate otherwise but I rarely go there.

I don't like to mix up my sock puppets.

 

[M'Lady Caija]

I and all myselfs manage to get along under one account. ^^ I'm using different variations of M'Lady Caija, My Lady C, Caija, Lady Caija etc

Caija is a nickname I got in 8th or 9th grade when I was into the goth-style with long black trenchcoats and lots of black eyeliner, and a fellow student said "Oh My! Angelina, you look like a crow.... or or rather a jackdaw!" and then I had an apiffany that Jackdaw (but in swedish then "Kaja" changed the K into a C and put in an extra i as I have a finnish heritage and vocals are popular in the finnish language ^^) with another spelling would rather suit me.

And actually since then Caija has been my most common online name, and I'm also known by that name by the viking society around where I live in sweden. For some vikings I'm still "Linus" but I outgrew her and she was actually a very egocentriq teenager. Caija is more of a warm and nurturing person but also a lioness/she-wolf that is very protective about her pack ^^

So my nicknames has ben worn and shedded when needed.