History Main / SockPuppet

* In ''VisualNovel/SteinsGate'' many of the posters on @Channel assume Okabe's account, Houoin Kyouma, is this to JOHN TITOR.

A secondary, pseudonymous Net identity created by an individual in order to give the impression that there are multiple people who agree with a given point, idea, or action, when in reality [[VocalMinority there's only one]]. Sock puppets are usually used to post follow-ups that [[ButHeSoundsHandsome praise their owner]] or echo their convictions, in the hopes that they will convince real people to pay attention to them and/or their agenda. Alternatively, they can be used to argue against the poster's real agenda, [[TheWarOnStraw but in such a stupid or offensive manner as to discredit the opposition]]. Sometimes, they are used to evade bans. While the first Sock Puppets appeared on UsefulNotes/{{Usenet}} (i.e. they are pretty much as old as discussion on the Internet itself), they have long since spread to other electronic venues, most notably blogs.

The term is a long-standing one in electronic media, dating back to the early days of the Net in the 1980s. It originated on UsefulNotes/{{Usenet}} and is still seen there, especially in the anti-spam groups. The term itself comes from the practice of creating a cheap puppet by pulling a sock over your hand, and then pretending to talk to it. One sub-category of the sock puppet is the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)#Concern_troll "concern troll"]], in which a sock puppet pretends to be part of a faction but makes "concerned" derogatory comparisons to another faction for whom the troll is a sock puppet.

* Website/LiveJournal communities often see Sockpuppets used to get around bans.

* [[Website/FIMFictionDotNet FIMFiction]] allows multiple accounts under the one condition that they do not favorite or like each others' stories. That being said, it is not uncommon for site users to have an account to host their K-T content, and a different account to host their [[Rule34 clop,]] a practice even site moderator and Blog/EquestriaDaily prereader Alexstraza got in on with his clop account "Quixotic."

* This is done quite frequently on [=IMDb.com=]. it involved a person with the username "[=GeniusIQ600=]". He quickly got to be disliked after reporting anything even slightly off topic, claiming that he was taking screencaps of disparaging replies to him and having his parents sue the repliers, and insisting that a female poster was mentally ill because she was bisexual. Sometime after, he changed his username to impersonate this female user (during which point in time he made a thread stating that "she" spoke out against Genius after not taking her medication) and began starting a handful of sock puppet accounts which always came to his aid and insisted that he had "good ideas". Perhaps the strangest one was when he tried to pass off a sock puppet as an [=IMDb=] mod to intimidate other users into not disagreeing with him.

* Dennis R. Upkins, author of ''Literature/{{Hollowstone}}'', [[http://i55.tinypic.com/2n81p3n.png got caught]] writing a review of his own book on amazon under an assumed name. In particular, it was noted that his sock pretended to be a bisexual woman who praised the book for its female characters (his book has been criticized on some forums for poor depictions of said characters). He was caught because his sock account was linked to his real credit card, so Amazon displayed his real name next to his assumed identity.

* [[Platform/FIMFictionDotNet FIMFiction]] allows multiple accounts under the one condition that they do not favorite or like each others' stories. That being said, it is not uncommon for site users to have an account to host their K-T content, and a different account to host their [[Rule34 clop,]] a practice even site moderator and Blog/EquestriaDaily prereader Alexstraza got in on with his clop account "Quixotic."

* One lone, particularly fanatical ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' fan [[http://wiki.fandomwank.com/index.php/Don%27t_You_Have_Any_Personalities_That_Aren%27t_Complete_Asshats%3F had 28 separate socks,]] each with different opinions and writing styles. And had them fight. It was apparently related to her spontaneous proposal to actor Tom Welling (who in RealLife is happily married to someone else).

* Peter Pedersen, member of Swedish parliament, once gave a suggestion that can be watched subtitled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYTGDkWMe0M&feature=related here:]] that somebody invent a battery that not only powers a car but also, using for instance a dynamo, somehow extracts so much energy from the car that, simply by driving the car, you receive enough power to keep on driving it. In other words, Pedersen wondered why they couldn't just invent a ''perpetuum mobile'', which it is well-known that nobody can ever do since it would violate at least one fundamental law of physics. When this was put on Website/YouTube, scornful and jeering comments poured in, but one recently registered user started defending Pedersen vigorously. It didn't take long for most users to come to the conclusion that this user was Mr. Pedersen himself.
* {{Fanfic}}tion author [[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/40569/ Jared "Skysaber" Ornstead]], who has long claimed problems with hatemail and other shenanigans from people who do not like his work or style, used a second online identity, [[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/40569/ "Perfect Lionheart"]] for over three years starting in 2007 in order to escape them. Lionheart and Skysaber favorited each other on Website/FanFictionNet, and Lionheart denied claims that he was Skysaber made by readers who found their styles virtually identical.
* There were persistent rumors during the ''Series/Jericho2006'' [[SendingStuffToSaveTheShow Nuts!]] campaign that Creator/{{CBS}} was using paid trolls to break up the movement. Whether or not that was even possible, several sock puppets were discovered in the later days of the fandom. One person was caught having as many as seven handles, all used to spread their socio-political viewpoint (right wing religious conspiracy theories) on the same board. There was an extreme amount of trolling going on in the fandom at the end of the second season. Some put it down to the show's BrokenBase; others thought the campaign may have attracted a certain personality type; but some still point that a rather large number of those trolls were very web-savvy, very organized and rather literate compared to your usual flame-baiters.

* [[http://reason.com/archives/2003/05/01/the-mystery-of-mary-rosh One of the more celebrated cases]] happened when people noticed that someone named Mary Rosh was bombarding Usenet, email lists, blogs and even Amazon.com with posts praising and defending controversial conservative academic and pro-gun advocate John Lott. "Mary" claimed to be one of his former students and said that Lott was "the best professor I ever had." After one journalist figured out that Mary's posts and emails came from the same IP address as Lott's, he fessed up.
* A Website/YouTube user known as "[=RonPaulHatesBlacks=]" is suspected of having around forty sock accounts, which he uses to vote his comments up.
* One of the worst offenders is the Wrestling/MollyHolly stalker. He has over 40 accounts on Website/YouTube (most notably one called "noragreenwaldisacunt") plus many more on Website/{{Blogspot}} and Dailymotion. His posts are all suspiciously similar in style. WordOfGod is he fell in love with her but went over the DespairEventHorizon when she got engaged to her now-husband.

* [[Website/FIMFictionDotNet FIMFiction]] allows multiple accounts under the one condition that they do not favorite or like each others' stories. That being said, it is not uncommon for site users to have an account to host their K-T content, and a different account to host their [[Rule34 clop,]] a practice even site moderator and Blog/EquestriaDaily prereader Alexstraza got in on with his clop account "Quixotic."

See also AstroTurf and the second definition of MeatPuppet. Not to be confused with an actual HandPuppet made from a sock. For when you're not sure whether the person is sincere or not, that's PoesLaw.

* In ComicBook/{{Ultraheroes}}, Cloverleaf (Gladstone Gander) sets one up to [[HeroWithBadPublicity beef up his public image]]. Naturally, it doesn't work.
* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', during the 'Cereal Convention', one participant's efforts to promote a magazine on their twisted occupation is one of several things that flag him to the others as a gate-crasher. They then show that they really don't care for gatecrashers.

* An interviewer for ''Harper's'' magazine, trying to get in touch with ''Film/TheRoom2003'' auteur Tommy Wiseau, first had to arrange an interview through a man named "John," allegedly the "administrator" of Wiseau Films. (John is the same guy who sent cease-and-desist letters to Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses for reviewing his film.) Judging by John's peculiar brand of broken English, the writer theorized that John may in fact be Tommy Wiseau himself. The promo material for ''The Room'' included enthusiastic blurbs from alleged publications/websites called ''Entertainment Today'' and ''Beverly Hills 90210'' (not [[Series/BeverlyHills90210 that one]]), that just happen to have the same shaky command of English and odd obsessions of Wiseau himself. ''Literature/TheDisasterArtist'' seemingly confirms that "John" is a pseudonym of Wiseau.

* This is why Website/EBay seller ratings have to be taken with a grain of salt: some sellers create fictional accounts for the purpose of giving themselves feedback. Some users will cheat the system if they're not happy with how their auction is going. If the bid is too low they will use another account to outbid at the last second so they won't have to sell.

* An interviewer for Harper's magazine, trying to get in touch with ''Film/TheRoom'' auteur Tommy Wiseau, first had to arrange an interview through a man named "John," allegedly the "administrator" of Wiseau Films. (John is the same guy who sent cease-and-desist letters to Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses for reviewing his film.) Judging by John's peculiar brand of broken English, the writer theorized that John may in fact be Tommy Wiseau himself. The promo material for ''The Room'' included enthusiastic blurbs from alleged publications/websites called ''Entertainment Today'' and ''Beverly Hills 90210'' (not [[Series/BeverlyHills90210 that one]]), that just happen to have the same shaky command of English and odd obsessions of Wiseau himself. ''Literature/TheDisasterArtist'' seemingly confirms that "John" is a pseudonym of Wiseau.

* Fantasy author Robert Stanek is notorious for this. He [[VanityPublishing self publishes]] his books, then creates hundred of false accounts on Amazon to praise his books, creates false fansites for his own books and [[http://conjugalfelicity.com/robert-stanek/the-photoshop-debacle/ photoshops pictures with himself and other fantasy authors]]. His sockpuppets also created Wikipedia pages about himself (before they were deleted) and extensively spammed the website Library Thing, leading to a permanent warning on his page.

* In ''{{LightNovel/Durarara}}'', before the Dollars genuinely became a huge group, the founders posted under different handles to give the impression they ''were''; and stationed in Ikebukuro. Apparently effective, exhibited when a number of people (actually just one person: [[spoiler: Mikado]]) agreed they should do good things like cleaning graffiti; and amazingly, a large prominent one, thought impossible to remove especially if alone, was wiped clean overnight. May also be a reason so many people of different ages and backgrounds join after the password is leaked to them by [[spoiler: Izaya]]; because no matter how big the group is getting, or how ordinary you are, someone would always reply. It's also known that Izaya has a number of sockpuppet accounts (most notably Nakura). [[http://anni-fiesta.livejournal.com/54709.html#cutid1 Volume 9 notes]] that these aren't just internet handles, but entire dummy identities with addresses, pre-established histories (he bought them off of people), and sometimes even faces (He gets his secretary Namie to play [[{{GIRL}} Kanra]] in offline meetings, for example).

A secondary, pseudonymous Net identity created by an individual in order to give the impression that there are multiple people who agree with a given point, idea, or action, when in reality [[VocalMinority there's only one]]. Sock puppets are usually used to post follow-ups that [[ButHeSoundsHandsome praise their owner]] or echo their convictions, in the hopes that they will convince real people to pay attention to them and/or their agenda. Alternatively, they can be used to argue against the poster's real agenda, [[TheWarOnStraw but in such a stupid or offensive manner as to discredit the opposition]]. Sometimes, they are used to [[UnCancelled evade bans.]] While the first Sock Puppets appeared on UsefulNotes/{{Usenet}} (i.e. they are pretty much as old as discussion on the Internet itself), they have long since spread to other electronic venues, most notably blogs.