'fake' posters on political threads

C'mon guys...


it's becoming pretty clear that many new ats users are actually fake IDs being used either by members or by the political parties themselves to play around with political debates on this board. These characters spontaneously generate for one or two threads -- always only in the political forums -- and then vanish, never having taken on an avatar picture or engaging in any non-political discussion. The sense that they leave with me is that they are either just pro shooters sent out by the parties to do dirtywork... or that they are schills set up by long time users to debate against.

Now.. I guess it's ok for users to have multiple identities (to be used in different forums)... but when they engage in fake debates with these identities it looks pretty bad. It makes dialogue on ATS look like a straw man dialogue...

...and that's why I think it's time to point out my personal displeasure with this. Please, dudes, it's clear when you're debating with a fake character you created just to beat!!!

[edit on 11-7-2004 by onlyinmydreams]

So who do you think are the fake posters? And who do you think are the regular posters who are creating them? Name some names.

Just for information, I don't have an avator because I don't know how to make one. But, I'm not a fake or a political hack.
joey

I wouldn't doubt it, there are some fairly retarded morons here that would stoop to such things.

As a reader & occasional poster on Usenet, I've seen this a lot. There, it's called "socking", and the false persona is known as a "sock" or "sockpuppet". It's usually the k00ks who sock the most, and they're the ones who cause trouble just because they can. I've never done it, as socking is the refuge of the coward and the sneak. My words always have my usual posting name attached to them.

I must say I'm disappointed to hear such a thing may be happening on ATS.

A lot of people, (including myself) have discovered that the fast track to points is IN THE POLITICAL ARENA!

I've started half a dozen threads, and to be honest, the political ones get HUGE responses, as opposed to the threads I've started in the Sci-Tech and Paranormal arenas.

Very simply, it's passion. Hey, why else would you call this site AboveTopSecret.com if you didn't expect a LOT of political feedback??

So how many points did you get for your last thread?

Originally posted by onlyinmydreams
C'mon guys...


it's becoming pretty clear that many new ats users are actually fake IDs being used either by members or by the political parties themselves to play around with political debates on this board. These characters spontaneously generate for one or two threads -- always only in the political forums -- and then vanish, never having taken on an avatar picture or engaging in any non-political discussion. The sense that they leave with me is that they are either just pro shooters sent out by the parties to do dirtywork... or that they are schills set up by long time users to debate against.

Now.. I guess it's ok for users to have multiple identities (to be used in different forums)... but when they engage in fake debates with these identities it looks pretty bad. It makes dialogue on ATS look like a straw man dialogue...

...and that's why I think it's time to point out my personal displeasure with this. Please, dudes, it's clear when you're debating with a fake character you created just to beat!!!

[edit on 11-7-2004 by onlyinmydreams]

If you're not a mod you cannot see the ips, if you cannot see the ip's how do you know it's the same people posting?

Originally posted by joey
Just for information, I don't have an avator because I don't know how to make one. But, I'm not a fake or a political hack.

joey

Click on the Tutorial tab at the top of the page they explain how to setup a Avatar and its very helpful

As others have mentioned, some of the large ISP communities (AOL in particular) are almost unbearable now due to similar trolling activity by multiple screen name users. And the backlash is just as bad. Though there is no doubt that "paid" or "fake" political posters exist, nothing degenerates a discussion quicker than the witch hunt of...

You're fake...
No, you're fake!

So let's not go there.

But from what I've seen in comparison across a wide spectrum of boards is that ATS is among the best moderated (I said the same before I ever started moderating), and though you may still be suspect about a poster once in a while...far and away, you never even see the bulk of the worst trolls that hit ATS because they get recognized and banned immediately.

But aside from ATS, I do think the topic is interesting and have tried to learn more about the "paid" political poster phenomenon on a large community like AOL. Because, like people have been saying, it's pretty obvious. And as much as I respect Dean's Internet guru Joe Trippi, I think he's largely responsible for spawning (or at least inspiring) the phenom.

The "professsionals" are easiest to spot though. They rarely interact, and just post one or two well versed essays with links back to their home organization over and over. That's just "spam'.

But I find the 'rogue' disinformation agents even more interesting. They take on the persona of their percieved opponent and go post crazy as a "straw man" making ridiculous claims all over the place with the simple intent of stirring up their own base.

Like "I spit on the soldiers since they're all baby killers!" or "George Bush is the smartest man that ever lived!" with some even changing names to argue with themselves. That's political masterbation.

What's even worse about a board like AOL is they strongly discourage playing "net detective" or "outing" posters, as it destroys the illusion of community rather quickly. One of the biggest TOS "crimes" on AOL is posting "private communication" if you ever happen to trick or "out" someone, which people try to do all the time there.

Anyway, none of it's really worth the effort. So I hope everyone just enjoys the nice community of largely sincere posters ATS has developed rather than degenerating the way of AOL.

If anyone has concerns about a particular poster on ATS, your best avenue is to not engage and simply complain with the appropriate information. But I think you'll find, most ATS new members (even the political gunslinger variety) either quickly vet themselves in other forums or lose interest on their own and disappear.

The reason? Most ATS members are too smart for their reindeer games.

[edit on 11-7-2004 by RANT]

Not so subtle hint for the partisan troll that just joined, and reminder to those that hate that sort of thing that it wants your attention and hates it when you ignore them.

OH MY GAWD!

donguillermo that's the scary damned avatar I've seen here on ATS so far! I actually had to deploy my DAS (Distractive Avatar Shield) before I could finish reading your post!

Don't do that to me any more!

[edit on 7-20-2004 by Valhall]

Originally posted by Valhall
OH MY GAWD!

donguillermo that's the scary damned avatar I've seen here on ATS so far! I actually had to deploy my DAS (Distractive Avatar Shield) before I could finish reading your post!

I wish I had video clips, but there's a guy running for Congress in NC with a new ad of him carrying his "Nancy Reagen Truth Shield" as people throw mud at him...literally.

Before you like him too much for that though, know he's buck nuts.

Vernon Robinson

Yeah I must say I also find don g's avatar a bit creepy. It's a side of Hillary I'd probably rather not see. Sort of a Cool Hand Luke vibe happening there.

As for the hit-and-run posters, or "sockers", it's definitely not a rarity anywhere, but I must agree that the mods here seem to be more on the ball than most.

Moderators aside, the best cure for such infestations is to ignore them. By their nature, they are seeking quick responses.

Patience is anathema to trolls.

An interesting case study would be to ascertain how many unique members there were in, say, the first 50 identities in the original incarnation of ATS.

About 12-15 months ago I played the sport of spotting dual and multiple IDs well, and the very effective moderators of the day would lend a listening ear. Today there are too many members to do that.

But what if the creation and manipulation of identities was an endorsed and well utilized policy of certain segments of the administration of the site - and not just for purposes like the "Find The Rings" game that has been entertaining for a proportion of the membership?

Originally posted by MaskedAvatar

But what if the creation and manipulation of identities was an endorsed and well utilized policy of certain segments of the administration of the site - and not just for purposes like the "Find The Rings" game that has been entertaining for a proportion of the membership?

Yeah, and what if statements made like this from you on a consistent basis were for nothing more than inciting drama and attempting to instill doubts in ATS members and guests against the administration of this board?

HEY! This speculating game is fun!

edit: was=were

[edit on 7-20-2004 by Valhall]

Originally posted by donguillermo
So who do you think are the fake posters? And who do you think are the regular posters who are creating them? Name some names.

lol
Yes, lets have a good old fashion witch hunt and starting accusing members
great idea

No, but seriously, im always suspicious of the new members who don't introduce their self and post a few essays, then disappear.
But because ATS is a conspiracy community, some people like to f@?! with our heads

Originally posted by MaskedAvatar
An interesting case study would be to ascertain how many unique members there were in, say, the first 50 identities in the original incarnation of ATS.

50. What is your point? Poking holes in the credibility of the people who volunteer their time to run this site?

But what if the creation and manipulation of identities was an endorsed and well utilized policy of certain segments of the administration of the site.

It was not, and is not. Again, what is your point?

That's why I left other message boards for political debate (eg yahoo.com). It was becoming unbearable - couldn't have a decent debate or share information. Paid posters, they call em.

Originally posted by Valhall
OH MY GAWD!

donguillermo that's the scary damned avatar I've seen here on ATS so far! I actually had to deploy my DAS (Distractive Avatar Shield) before I could finish reading your post!

Don't do that to me any more!

Can you say "Madam President"? I found that picture on the front page of Drudge Report. Drudge cracks me up. He always uses extremely unflattering pictures of Democrats. But I think Hillary looks very cool and determined in that picture. I decided to use the picture for my avatar in the hope it would scare off some right-wing trolls.