Can you tell who somebody is from their writing style? Just wondering. I believe it can be done but want to make sure my reference is correct.
Thank you,
Sqrl
I hit submit to fast. How about immitating a specific person’s style? Is that difficult or easy?
Thank you,
Sqrl
You can identify a style that you can associate with an individual, but more than one person may express elements of the same style. I noticed last night that we’ve a relatively new poster (whose name escapes me right now) who uses many of the same contsructions that I use.
So, I think the answer is probably, but not definitely.
Pt. 2 wasn’t here yet when I answered.
Sure you can imitate someone, particularly if there are aspects of their writing style that are unusual. I think it’s probably pretty difficult to keep it up without revealing the fake.
Sqrl, that’s something that depends on how concrete you want your answer to be. Psycological observations can be extremely subjective so it could be as accurate as finding a link between certain personality characteristics and writing style or as weak as a newspaper horoscope.
OK, Padeye. Thanks Beatle. I would still like more input on this topic. Aren’t there clues that a layperson can read that would show a person is an imposter? For instance, on the recent rash of look-a-like trolls, can we really assume that they are the same person or small group of people? They tend to all post in a similar style.
HUGS!
Sqrl
bump again.
HUGS!
Sqrl
Trying to figure out if a few troll posts were from the same person using different names would be guessing, but you can look for a few clues.
If they repeat the same message over and over, … probably. If they make the same spelling errors, … likely.
If you have access to the server logs, and they’re coming from the same IP address, … fetch your pointy sticks!
As far as imitating someone else’s style for fun and/or profit … got some time on your hands?
Good!
Get everthing you can that they’ve ever written, and study it for vocabulary, spelling and grammar.
Particularly, look for mistakes, especially consistent ones. Do they misspell “misanthropist” six times in the same rant, a different way each time?
Also, get a feel for their personality. Character defects always make an impression, but don’t over-do it. Sure, they may be a lush, but they probably don’t refer to drinking every other line.
Now I’m starting to frighten myself. How did I think of this stuff?
I read that there were a few Federalist Papers that had been published anonymously, and historians wanted to find out who wrote them. By examining several other Federalist Papers with known authors, and looking at the grammatical habits, use of certain articles and prepositions, etc., they were able to determine who wrote the papers.
Don’t have any sources, tho.
I wish I remembered which magazine it was in (probably Time or Newsweek), but there was an article that ‘outed’ Joe Klein as the author of the book ‘Primary Colors’ before he admitted to writing it. The article listed several key phrases and words that Klein was know to use in his writing, and used them to identify him as the author. Once he was confronted, he finally came clean.
I believe there was also a similar situation when Stephen King was writing under the name Richard Bachman.
The problem, I think, with the troll situation that we are having right now is that the ‘loophole’ in the programming that can allow people to copy screen names has been posted more than once. I seems to me that there were probably one or two trolls that were smart enough to figure it out on their own, and then a whole bunch more that read how to do it right here.
Rose
A clever person might be able to carry out the impersonation for some time if he/she kept the writing very brief. The longer the message, the more difficult to keep up the false image.
I believe that eventually there would be enough clues to indicate that it was a different person.