# A question about socks **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 22, 2021, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431 "2021-03-22T13:16:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2021, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/81 "2021-04-04T05:04:33Z")
Darn. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2021, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/82 "2021-04-04T07:13:14Z")
One of the offshoot boards boards had (has?) this. Nearly every post in it was bitching about posters on the Dope. What’s weird is that pretty much all of them could have been posted to the Pit, but nobody wanted to take responsibility for their posts. > [@DSeid](#): > > And there are threads and subjects that are of natures that are more … private and sensitive. I’m not going to share some things in a public venue under an ID that I feel is easily associated with me in real life. So I don’t participate there so much. How often does that come up? I can think of a couple of things I wouldn’t talk about on the board, but I wouldn’t talk about them if I was anonymous either. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2021, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/83 "2021-04-04T11:53:17Z")
Infrequently. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2021, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/84 "2021-04-04T12:33:03Z")
A year or so ago, we had a very weird troll who was very aggressively targeting one specific (and mostly non-controversial) poster. The legitimate poster pretty much completely ignored it, but that didn’t stop it from making dozens of sock accounts. I think that it eventually went away because around then, the board started having serious performance issues, and it concluded that it had convinced that poster to turn off the board (one aspect of its insanity was that it apparently thought that the poster it was targeting was the owner of the board). ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/85 "2021-04-04T14:40:39Z")
I’ve moderated on a board that allows multiple IDs, and the differences in both trolling and ease of moderation really weren’t related to the existence of known-to-mods alternative IDs. I asked the mods for permission to make an anonymous alt shortly after I joined, for reasons like what DSeid mentions, and was told “absolutely not”. So I’m sympathetic with that desire. I will say, though, that in practice, it tends not to work very well. Not because people troll with their alts, but because other posters recognize their “voice” and the alt tends not to stay anonymous. ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2021, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/86 "2021-04-05T03:59:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It’s why sitewide bans are no longer shadowbans Shadowbans and their ilk aren’t a good idea in my experience > **[Suspension, Ban or Hellban?](https://blog.codinghorror.com/suspension-ban-or-hellban/)** > > For almost eight months after launching Stack Overflow to the public, we had no concept of banning or blocking users. Like any new frontier town in the wilderness of the internet, I suppose it was inevitable that we'd be obliged to build a jail at... > [@BigT](#): > > except for spammers. Spammers _must_ be deleted, so that they go through the shredder and all their data is fed to Akismet, email blocking, ip blocking (which automatically rolls up) etc. There is never any reason to allow a spammer to occupy one iota of space on your forum. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/87 "2021-04-05T04:31:00Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > One of the offshoot boards boards had (has?) this. Nearly every post in it was bitching about posters on the Dope. What’s weird is that pretty much all of them could have been posted to the Pit, but nobody wanted to take responsibility for their posts. {…} If you’re talking about the place I think you are, you might want to read the _Why can’t I see usernames?? HERE’S WHY._ thread, in the _Discourse About You! (Yes, You!!)_ forum. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/88 "2021-04-26T20:50:38Z")
Would it be possible for the mods to set certain threads to allow anonymous posting, to allow people to share details on private and sensitive subjects? I’m thinking of something like on stackexchange, where you can post without going through signing up for an account, just by entering a name and email address. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/89 "2021-04-26T23:05:51Z")
We’ve done a few secret threads in which someone (I’ve done it at least twice) volunteers to collect and post anonymous emails for those who want to share something anonymously. Some of those have been really successful (in that there was a lot of discussing and advice given). That sounds like it meets the desire to share personal stuff anonymously for discussion. Here’s one of those threads: > [@Another secret thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-secret-thread/791239/1): > > We’ve done this before (thanks **Zebra!** ) and I thought it’d be fun to do it again. ---
**Author:** ![Scotty\_the\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Scotty\_the\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotty_the_Kid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/90 "2021-05-01T21:30:48Z")
I took what was (for me) a fairly long hiatus from the board (6+ months) and when I returned the board had installed the new software (I had no idea it was even planned). My original stumbling block as far as accessing my account was my e-mail address that I originally signed up with ; it no longer existed. To be completely honest, when I first set up this alternate account, my first move was _not_ to immediately notify staff here. No, I briefly flirted with the delusion of maintaining my new identity, changing my posting style and just becoming this mysterious new poster. Well I _did_ say briefly haha. And by that I mean I started all of one info-seeking thread in GQ and very quickly realized I was a damn idiot and went to the SDMB mafia in a hurry. 🙂 So no, im not a Q’anon #Saveourchildren nutcase. Im Ambivalid. (Groans are audible from somewhere deep inside phone) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/91 "2021-05-01T21:54:07Z")
Hey, welcome back! Do you want your old name back, or are you happy with this one? ---
**Author:** ![Scotty\_the\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Scotty\_the\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotty_the_Kid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/92 "2021-05-01T23:41:21Z")
I’m getting ambivalid back. I like that name Fits me much better ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/93 "2021-05-02T00:02:03Z")
Nice to see you. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/94 "2021-05-02T00:39:04Z")
Oh wow welcome back, I always liked you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scotty\_the\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Scotty\_the\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotty_the_Kid)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/95 "2021-05-02T00:59:16Z")
Thanks! Life’s kicked my ass the past year or so, it’s good to be back on familiar territory ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/96 "2021-05-02T06:16:12Z")
I don’t think we interacted, I post rarely, but I noticed you were MIA early last year I think. I even looked up your posting history to see if you did a goodbye thread. Not that I’m a stalker. Good to see you back, glad you made it through a year of getting your ass kicked. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/97 "2021-05-02T06:19:25Z")
Dude! Wondered when you’d return to us! Contact @engineer_comp_geek to get your name back so you don’t appear as a sock. ---
**Author:** ![Scotty\_the\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Scotty\_the\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotty_the_Kid)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/98 "2021-05-02T06:21:18Z")
Already did ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/99 "2021-05-02T06:23:17Z")
Glad you’re back! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431/100 "2021-05-02T07:13:05Z")
@Scotty_the_Kid I believe there was even a post asking if anyone knew what had happened to you. Glad to see you back. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-socks/938431.md?page=6)