# How do you guys identify sock puppets? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 29, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654 "2004-09-29T12:27:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Iceland\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/21 "2004-09-30T11:45:27Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > The staff are of course reluctant to say how they actually can identify them (I have some strong guesses, which I’m not going to share), but I think it is instructive to note that we had an instance about a year ago where a husband and wife were posting here, the husband was banned and the wife continued posting for a while (ultimately going inactive). Just curious at to how that would work. Would you just have to go by the person’s style of writing to make sure it was wife posting and not hubby? Or would a new account name be set up for her? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/22 "2004-09-30T12:29:06Z")
> [@Iceland\_Blue](#): > > I wasn’t aware Og was an inside joke.In our family,it has long been the case that to avoid using God’s name,you substituted something like ‘Almighty Gorlummocks’ or ‘in the name of Gorlummocks’.I just assumed Og was a variation on this 🙂 I believe there was a poster here, before my time, who always tried to convert people to his version of God. However he invariably got so excited that he’d spell it as Og. He wasn’t rationally trying to convert, so people started teasing him and “Og”. So it is kind of an inside joke. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/23 "2004-09-30T14:56:13Z")
## **TubaDiva** Thanks for the offer, but it’s not necessary. I’m happy to give the hamsters a little extra treat. However, I now realize that if using the same credit card for multiple registrations makes one a suspected sock puppet, that I’m a suspect because I’ve sponsored several people. For those desiring more information about Og, try [The Tenets of Og thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=256119) ---
**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:** [September 30, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/24 "2004-09-30T17:02:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Just curious at to how that would work. Would you just have to go by the person’s style of writing to make sure it was wife posting and not hubby? Or would a new account name be set up for her? She should have had her own account name to begin with. I’m not certain if there’s a rule against shared usernames, but at the very least, it’s officially frowned upon. Of course, it’s still possible for a banned person to post using a non-banned spouse’s account, but I would imagine that the spouse of a banned member is likely to be under a little extra scrutiny, and that the Staff would probably notice the writing style. In that case, the spouse would also end up banned. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/25 "2004-09-30T17:58:56Z")
> [@Iceland\_Blue](#): > > Just curious at to how that would work. Would you just have to go by the person’s style of writing to make sure it was wife posting and not hubby? Or would a new account name be set up for her? 🙂 This is why we don’t allow shared screen names/accounts, btw. You’re responsible for yourself here, good and bad. We can usually tell when one person is using someone else’s screen name, it’s a stylistic thing. If we look at IP addresses, sometimes that also gives us information, though 99% of the board could be posting from Mars and we’d never know and it wouldn’t matter, 'cause most of you are fabulous and we never have cause to investigate. The last time this happened (it’s been quite a while), we had a situation where a couple had registered at the Dope, one really screwed up by the numbers and got banned, the other one was still a member in good standing. (The innocent party rarely posted here, that’s probably why.) The banned poster used their SO’s screen name to continue posting here. We saw the rise in usage for this previously inactive screen name, noticed the change of tone in the postings as well, and ran an IP check, which traced back to the IP of the banned poster’s workplace. We ultimately wound up banning the entire corporation from the board for awhile. your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/26 "2004-09-30T19:17:58Z")
So, to answer the OP: Sock Puppets get nailed because the idiot who got their first account banned winds up doing the same stupid things and gets their Sock Puppet banned. Often, we can tell it’s the same person the way you can tell when someone playing a crank phone call on you will call back with a badly disguised voice – they ain’t fooling no one. These people are generally idiots (and the ones who are smart are either crazy or socially inept) – that’s how they get themselves banned in the first place. They don’t have the capability to come back under an assumed name and stay under the radar in a board full of very, very intelligent people (some of whom have scary ‘rainman-like’ abilities to spot unique writing styles). Peace. ---
**Author:** ![Iceland\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/27 "2004-10-01T10:01:11Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > Often, we can tell it’s the same person the way you can tell when someone playing a crank phone call on you will call back with a badly disguised voice – they ain’t fooling no one. _cough_ ahem…yes I’m looking for a poster known as Hugh G. Rection. Is there a Hugh G. Rection in this forum? _cough_ ---
**Author:** ![compositejoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/compositejoe/32/7232_2.png) [@compositejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/compositejoe)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/28 "2012-05-08T18:56:01Z")
Apologies for bumping this thread, but I thought I’d add my experience of being accused of sock puppetery even though the forum I had joined was one that I had _ **never, ever even visited before, nor had anybody in my family in my house visited that forum either** _. Anyway, I join the forum, and I add a reply to a certain thread giving an approximate answer to a question, but added that I’d love to be proved wrong. Immediately, I got a reply saying “_name of user that is nothing to do with me whatsoever_, we know it’s you. You’ve already been banned once, so I suggest you get the hell off this forum NOW! You ain’t welcome here!!!” And a few minutes later when I tried to visit the forum, I got a message appear saying that I had been banned! :mad: Has something similar to the above experience ever happened to any forum members here when they have used different forums? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/29 "2012-05-09T14:34:16Z")
I’ll just not say that I am not definitely not not not a not sock. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/30 "2012-05-09T16:43:26Z")
Can’t speak as to what happens on other boards but yes, we’ve banned people in error before. We’ve blocked legitimate users through IP banning … looking to ban a spammer we also kept out people who had every right to be there. We’ve thrown people out due to misunderstanding – they looked like a spammer but they weren’t. We’ve blocked entire families from posting when we thought someone was socking and it turned out to be family members/friends posting from the same computer or the same location. When we’re in error we correct it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/31 "2012-05-09T18:18:37Z")
Rather odd that this thread was the one resurrected, and not [this very recent one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=650110)… ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/32 "2012-05-09T23:08:40Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Rather odd that this thread was the one resurrected, and not [this very recent one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=650110)… Not entirely. Since we’re crawled by Google spyders, depending on the search terms someone uses on the web, you get an older thread. Probably what happened. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/33 "2012-05-10T04:03:57Z")
Generally, I invite the poster to visit using Skype. If the poster looks too much like Lambchop, Hush Puppy, or Charlie Horse, I figure he or she is a sock puppet. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/34 "2012-05-10T04:49:25Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Generally, I invite the poster to visit using Skype. If the poster looks too much like Lambchop, Hush Puppy, or Charlie Horse, I figure he or she is a sock puppet. Two cute little button eyes…and a big fist up it’s ass-dead giveaway, every time. ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/35 "2012-05-10T11:59:34Z")
Silence!!! I keel you!!! ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654/36 "2012-05-10T12:17:19Z")
A within-thread demonstration of the mods’ powers of detection? Impressive! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-guys-identify-sock-puppets/266654.md?page=1)