Sockpuppet

[[File:Sockpuppet-mugshot.jpg|right|thumb|165px|A sock puppet in the dock.]]
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A '''sockpuppet''', also known as a '''sock''', is an account on a website, [[wiki]], or forum run by someone who already has an account. 

Sockpuppets are often against the Terms of Service of a website.  Breaking a site's Terms of Service isn't illegal in and of itself in the USA, as the 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals ruled.<ref>Casey Chan. [https://gizmodo.com/its-not-a-crime-to-break-a-terms-of-service-agreement-5901339 It's Not a Crime to Break a Terms of Service Agreement (So It's Okay to Never Read Them)], Gizmodo. Retrieved February 4th, 2021.</ref>  However, if the sockpuppet residing in the US (or country with similar laws) deliberately tries to evade a site IP block, and the site's ToS doesn't explicitly allow such thing, the sockpuppet is probably criminally violating the {{W|Computer Fraud and Abuse Act||.}}<ref>David Kravetz. [https://www.wired.com/2013/08/ip-cloaking-cfaa/ IP Cloaking Violates Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Judge Rules] Wired. Retrieved February 4th, 2021.</ref>

==Purpose==
Originally used as a term to describe second identities, it is now used for any account created exclusively to cause 
spam
 mischief or mayhem at a [[RationalWiki|site]] without the original [[Special:ListUsers|user]] being identified (IP recognition and blocking notwithstanding).

The name has also led to sites that generate such users being referred to as a "sock drawer." Clever, that.

The reasons for sock puppetry can include:
*Rigging voting results (Modern Library, anyone?<ref>{{wpl|Modern Library 100 Best Novels|Randroids and Scientologists, fight the tyranny of the literary scholars}}!</ref>); also often seen whenever a wiki attempts to make a decision by "consensus".
*Rigging discussions by creating a sockpuppet who "agrees" with your [[argument]].
*Rigging discussions by creating a sockpuppet who makes deliberately extreme or moronic (usually [[strawman]]) arguments against your own view. 
*Attempts to avoid rules, blocks, or scrutiny.
*[[Bored]]om
*[[Lancb|LANCB]] &mdash; but returning under an assumed sock
*[[Wandalism]], especially on RationalWiki
*[[Advertising]] and promotion, where you want to boost a product without your identity being known, similar to [[astroturfing]]; reviewing your own book under a pseudonym is a popular pastime for authors.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/14/us/amazon-glitch-unmasks-war-of-reviewers.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm Amazon Glitch Unmasks War Of Reviewers], New York Times, 14 Feb 2004</ref>
*Trolling and harassing internet users without any repercussions.
*Allowing admins to test filters without revoking rights to their own accounts.

==Examples==
The [[United States Armed Forces|US military]] apparently created sock puppet accounts and [[Fun:How to use proxies|proxy adresses]] so they can influence online [[social networking]] in pro-American directions.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media], ''The Guardian''</ref>

==Origins==
The term comes from the classic children's toy, which is a sentient organism bearing a suspicious resemblance to a sock over somebody's hand. Any suggestion that it is being controlled by the person who owns the hand (or sock) is mischievous trouble-making. Sock puppets are popular with educationalists such as {{wpl|Shari Lewis}} and {{wpl|Mick Foley||.}}<ref>{{wpa|Sock puppet}}</ref>

The Jargon File defined it in the modern sense in 1999:<blockquote>(USENET: from the act of placing a sock over your hand and talking to it and pretending it's talking back.) In Usenet parlance, a pseudo through which the puppeteer posts follow-ups to their own original message to give the appearance that a number of people support the views held in the original message.<ref>[http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/oldversions/jarg410.txt Jargon File], v. 4.1.0, 12 MAR 1999</ref></blockquote> The first use of the term in the mainstream media is recorded by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' from March 2000 in ''US News and World Report'': "Jennifer Brand, a 24-year-old student who backed President Clinton in 1996, called Gore ‘a sock puppet’ and Bush ‘a wimp’."<ref name=wpspa>{{wpa|Sock puppet account}}</ref><ref>"sock, n.1". OED Online. December 2020. Oxford University Press. https://www-oed-com.nls.idm.oclc.org/view/Entry/183797?redirectedFrom=sockpuppet (accessed February 09, 2021).</ref> 

A sock puppet is also sometimes called a "meat puppet", which is considerably ickier (most people would rather put their hand inside a sock than a lump of meat).<ref name=wpspa/>

==See also==
*[[Don't feed the troll]]
*[[Scott Adams]]
*[[Michael Coombs]]
*{{Ken}}
*[[Template:Sock]]

==External links==	
*[http://www.legendsandlore.com/sockpuppets.html Learn How to Make Sock Puppets Here]
*{{wpl|Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Internet culture]]
[[Category:Spammers]]

Categories: Internet culture, Spammers