A sock puppet (usually shortened to just ‘sock’) is an account created by someone who already has an account. It is used to make posts that they don’t wish to sully their original username with, or other such nonsense. It’s also among the faster ways to bring bannination down upon one’s head.
Or, it seems more commonly, it is a new account a BANNED doper opens to come back and stir up crap. The Mods are able to discover them by periodically sacrificing sheep and waving chicken bones over the server.
I’ve used it before to report spam messages. Nothing else.
I actually just used it to report all of the posts in this thread…
I’ve never caught a Spam thread, but have used it a couple of times for extremely rude and insensitive posting outside the pit. All times the poster crashed and burned soon afterwards anyway. I’ve reported my own posts once when I realised it was in the wrong forum.
I’ve used it for any number of reasons… trolling, spam, to report poopheads that were being mean to me in a debate, and even to suggest moving threads from one forum to another to give them a better chance to survive.
I’ve gotten reactions out of some of my reports but have never recieved any sort of reply from the mods themselves. The only time I ever know they saw my report is if I see one of them doing what I suggested and in a lot of those cases, it very well might have been because there were other reports from other posters as well.
I do wish they’d moved a recent **continuity eror **OP to GD from IMHO like I had asked though. It was really interesting and, like I expected it to, died in the forum it was posted to while it might have had a chance in GD.
Guess they didn’t feel it needed moving though. C’est la vie.
I’ve used it to report spam and porn.
How do they verify a sock, anyway? IP?
That is one of those Things That Shall Not Be Revealed, for the onvious reasons that people will then try to bypass the method if they know the secret.
Such questions can lead to the much feared Closing of the Thread, so do not ask such things.
I’ve used the “Report” button when links went straight to NSFW images. The last thing many Dopers need is their screen to be filled with porn while they’re at work.
I’ve used it twice that I can recall, once today and once about a week or so ago. Today was to report a major spoiler that had been written, unboxed, in a thread about Watchmen, and the other was to report the thread where the OP asked the best way to smoke pot. Dex boxed the spoiler and xash (IIRC) closed the pot thread.
–Cliffy
P.S. Welcome, Hafling.
I use it when I think a mod or two (or more) should be alerted to something. Averages one use per day; obviously there are some days when I don’t use it, and on more than one occasion I’ve used it six or seven times in a day. Most of the times when it’s been more than three in one day were all the same member doing something.
That one was a good call. A major spoiler? He summarised the entire plot, point by point, over three long paragraphs - pretty inconsiderate.
Thank you Cliffy. On other message boards I’ve felt invisible and given up, but I’m enjoying it here and I think it’s likely I’ll sign up. And thanks to the Dopers who took the time to answer my question.
Apologies for this slight hijack 
It seems to me that not being noticed is in the nature of halflings.
The number of reported posts varies widely from forum to forum, as also from day to day. On average, for GQ, I receive about 4-5 reports on a normal day. Posts that are clearly spam usually get the most number of reports, sometimes even 15 reports for the same post, by different people. It’s easy to skip over the duplicates, so it doesn’t really matter if more people report the same thing.
Sometimes, reports don’t hold any substance, in that no mod action is necessary or warranted. In these cases we just move on and do nothing. Sometimes it requires a judgement call. Sometimes we get reports from two members in a fight, both with conflicting opinions; here we have to weigh the thread in its entirety and take appropriate action. Sometimes, very rarely, we discuss the report before taking action. Sometimes we make incorrect decisions and get called on it by other members.
The reports from members help tremendously in keeping this place the way it is. Thank you to all of you who have ever reported a post, and especially to the few of you who consistently report inappropriate posts.
We do not really have the time to respond to each individual report, but be assured that we have either taken appropriate action or felt that action was not necessary. Every once in a while we reply to reports to thank people or to clarify something or the other.
If you have any other specific questions regarding reported posts, feel free to ask.
Here are some stats using a small sample size. Note that this is only for GQ:
1 Week [12th November - 18th November]: 80 reported posts (including duplicates).
Avg.: 11.4 per day.
Reported posts in November [to date]: 167 (!) (including duplicates).
Avg.: 8.4 per day.
Reported posts for the month of October: 324 (!) (including duplicates).
Avg.: 10.5 per day.
So I guess that’s more than my estimated 4-5 reports per day
I think the SDMB is styled along the lines of 1960s China. There are multiple eyes watching you wherever you venture.
I’ve used to to report threads that are in the wrong forum, reported one that was a plea for psychoanalysis (which Lynn jumped on quickly), I reported one of my own when I felt I came off too harsh in GQ, but Xash (I think) wrote me back telling me he thought it was okay.
Jeez, I took the time to explain it in post 22. I go through all that trouble and just get ignored… :rolleyes:
Well, since the nature of a message board is to post messages that a lot of people will see, it hardly seems similar to a society in which one’s neighbors are encouraged to spy on each other. In fact, actual “spying” (such as running over to check LiveJournal or Fathom or Unaboard or NADS and running back to the SDMB to “report” what was said) is actively and strongly discouraged, I suggest that the comparison is without any foundation.
I have reported posts where actual names, address, and phone numbers of people have been posted. I have reported a few threads that looked to be headed for serious meltdowns, based on my observations of previous threads that had been closed or removed–longtime posters going apeshit crazy, marital disputes going public, that sort of thing.
In other words, where a person might be harmed IRL or a poster may be endangering their own posting privileges by unseemly behavior (that might have been triggered by alcohol or emotional stress), I have made the administration aware of the situation.
I will report any incitement by a Doper to a board war or any discovery that a weird poster is actually a troll from another board looking to start a board war.
On a few occasions I have reported duplicate threads.
I don’t bother reporting threads that I find offensive, just because I don’t like them. I simply stop reading them. Insults outside the Pit or similar events may prompt me to simply mention it in the thread–especially for newbies, giving the offending poster an opportunity to themselves ask the Moderators for assistance. I usually include the suggstion that they notify the Mods.
I probably read the wrong Fora, since I do not often come across spam, but I suppose I’d report it if I found it.
I report a post maybe once every 2-3 weeks. I never seem to see spam, I most often report posts where someone is (IMHO) behaving inappropriately. I figured it wouldn’t much bother them if they have duplicate reports, so even if it’s been a little while and I would guess someone else has reported something, if no mod action has been taken I report it anyway. I try not to fall into the mindset that someone else will definitely do it since there are so many of us, because if everyone thought that way, we’d be in trouble.