3 ms·

The battle to destroy Wikipedia's biggest sockpuppet army

17 points by Isofarro 13y ago

tokenadult 13y ago
"Only a few people on Wikipedia are trusted with sockpuppet investigations. Like forensic investigations in the real world, they tend to reveal the most sensitive information. In this case, that means a Wikipedia user's IP address, the unique number that identifies the computer network you use to connect to the Internet. For any logged-in Wikipedia user, IP addresses are usually hidden." There are a lot of high-profile, well liked websites that allow a broader group of moderators to have access to this kind of user information, and at least some (one where I am a member of the moderation team) that attempt to use automated means to detect sockpuppets. I understand some of the cultural reasons why Wikipedia has been reluctant to defend itself more aggressively, but it's regrettable how little Wikipedia does to protect itself against the kind of abuse described in the article kindly submitted here.
mikeyouse 13y ago
Reminds me of Gary Weiss (a fairly prominent financial journalist / blogger) getting exposed for running sock puppet accounts on Wikipedia a few years ago. There was a ton of 'drama' in the Wiki sense of the word, with numerous bannings, several rounds at the ArbCom, corrupted admins, and then eventually Wales got involved. Jimmy Wales at the time: The evidence that Weiss has sockpuppeted all over the Internet is pretty compelling, and even the mainstream press has commented over his refusal to directly address it. Is Mantan one of those socks? We have no proof either way, but I think the evidence tends to suggest it. [...] But the issue is real. My concern is that if Mantanmoreland is really Gary Weiss, then it is only a matter of time until this is proven…either by Bagley or someone else…and we will find that we have been manipulated in a pretty sad way. [1] - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/?page=1 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overst... [2] - http://antisocialmedia.net/the-final-word-on-gary-weiss-and-wikipedia/ http://antisocialmedia.net/the-final-word-on-gary-weiss-and-... [3] - http://www.deepcapture.com/wikipedias-jimbo-wales-unimpressed-by-gary-weiss-and-his-lies/ http://www.deepcapture.com/wikipedias-jimbo-wales-unimpresse...

17 points by Isofarro 13y ago

"Only a few people on Wikipedia are trusted with sockpuppet investigations. Like forensic investigations in the real world, they tend to reveal the most sensitive information. In this case, that means a Wikipedia user's IP address, the unique number that identifies the computer network you use to connect to the Internet. For any logged-in Wikipedia user, IP addresses are usually hidden." There are a lot of high-profile, well liked websites that allow a broader group of moderators to have access to this kind of user information, and at least some (one where I am a member of the moderation team) that attempt to use automated means to detect sockpuppets. I understand some of the cultural reasons why Wikipedia has been reluctant to defend itself more aggressively, but it's regrettable how little Wikipedia does to protect itself against the kind of abuse described in the article kindly submitted here.

mikeyouse 13y ago

Reminds me of Gary Weiss (a fairly prominent financial journalist / blogger) getting exposed for running sock puppet accounts on Wikipedia a few years ago. There was a ton of 'drama' in the Wiki sense of the word, with numerous bannings, several rounds at the ArbCom, corrupted admins, and then eventually Wales got involved. Jimmy Wales at the time: The evidence that Weiss has sockpuppeted all over the Internet is pretty compelling, and even the mainstream press has commented over his refusal to directly address it. Is Mantan one of those socks? We have no proof either way, but I think the evidence tends to suggest it. [...] But the issue is real. My concern is that if Mantanmoreland is really Gary Weiss, then it is only a matter of time until this is proven…either by Bagley or someone else…and we will find that we have been manipulated in a pretty sad way. [1] - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/?page=1 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overst... [2] - http://antisocialmedia.net/the-final-word-on-gary-weiss-and-wikipedia/ http://antisocialmedia.net/the-final-word-on-gary-weiss-and-... [3] - http://www.deepcapture.com/wikipedias-jimbo-wales-unimpressed-by-gary-weiss-and-his-lies/ http://www.deepcapture.com/wikipedias-jimbo-wales-unimpresse...