4 ms·

Comments here seem very negative. If they do some basic tracking of users between accounts, e.g. based on IP address, cookies or browser fingerprint, they coul

Comments here seem very negative. If they do some basic tracking of users between accounts, e.g. based on IP address, cookies or browser fingerprint, they could easily do some kind of probabalistic determination of whether or not a potential new account is a troll's puppet or not, and if it is, ask for a phone number immediately. Phone verification won't stop 100% of puppeting, but what percentage of potential trolls are willing to go to the hassle/expense of getting a throwaway phone number just to get a new twitter account? 10%? 1%?

Sir_Substance 12y ago
I don't want to give my number to twitter, regardless of whether they think I resemble a troll. False positives happen. Oh, let me guess, if I don't like it I don't have to use it, right? I wish that worked when the police asked for your phone number...
- ptaipale 12y ago
  Wisecracking: if you don't use phone, you don't have a number that you would have to give to them...
- bikeshack 12y ago
  Agreed. Just like Facebook's real name policy, the classification system for what Twitter deems a "troll account" is going to be hard to codify and ascertain. In terms of harassment, though, there is a definite clear cut definition of that, but the term "troll" has many blurred lines.
pjc50 12y ago
I'd be much happier with IP banning or browser fingerprinting than extracting extra personal information. I'd like to find the middle ground that allows banning of harassers without handing everyone participating in a demonstration hashtag (e.g. Tahrir, Turkey, Hong Kong) over to the police.
aaronbasssett 12y ago
http://www.burnerapp.com/ http://www.burnerapp.com/
- mnem 12y ago
  That doesn't work because you need to give them a mobile number to receive an SMS. It's relatively difficult to get a mobile number without actually buying a phone - some online services do offer virtual mobile numbers, but these blocks tend to be known about and will never receive verification SMS messages from many online services that use SMS for validation. Source: me, trying to find a damn number to set up multiple dev accounts for testing apps. It's a pain in the arse.
  - DanBC 12y ago
    > It's relatively difficult to get a mobile number without actually buying a phone England: I have a cheap phone (cheapest second hand phone from somewhere like Cex; or cheapest new phone from some mobile provider). I can then get handfuls of sims for that phone, and each sim provides me with a new number.

Sir_Substance 12y ago

I don't want to give my number to twitter, regardless of whether they think I resemble a troll. False positives happen. Oh, let me guess, if I don't like it I don't have to use it, right? I wish that worked when the police asked for your phone number...

ptaipale 12y ago
Wisecracking: if you don't use phone, you don't have a number that you would have to give to them...
bikeshack 12y ago
Agreed. Just like Facebook's real name policy, the classification system for what Twitter deems a "troll account" is going to be hard to codify and ascertain. In terms of harassment, though, there is a definite clear cut definition of that, but the term "troll" has many blurred lines.

pjc50 12y ago

I'd be much happier with IP banning or browser fingerprinting than extracting extra personal information. I'd like to find the middle ground that allows banning of harassers without handing everyone participating in a demonstration hashtag (e.g. Tahrir, Turkey, Hong Kong) over to the police.

aaronbasssett 12y ago

http://www.burnerapp.com/ http://www.burnerapp.com/

mnem 12y ago
That doesn't work because you need to give them a mobile number to receive an SMS. It's relatively difficult to get a mobile number without actually buying a phone - some online services do offer virtual mobile numbers, but these blocks tend to be known about and will never receive verification SMS messages from many online services that use SMS for validation. Source: me, trying to find a damn number to set up multiple dev accounts for testing apps. It's a pain in the arse.
- DanBC 12y ago
  > It's relatively difficult to get a mobile number without actually buying a phone England: I have a cheap phone (cheapest second hand phone from somewhere like Cex; or cheapest new phone from some mobile provider). I can then get handfuls of sims for that phone, and each sim provides me with a new number.