These policies should be accepted by the community. Changes should reflect consensus or be approved by the Staff Team.
To dispute a policy, please discuss on the talk page or contact the Staff Team.
Sockpuppetry (or socking) is when a user (called the sockmaster or sockpuppeteer) uses an alternate account (called a sockpuppet) to give the impression of being a different person. Sockpuppetry is often used to evade a block or ban, sway a discussion or vote, or avoid a bad reputation among the community.
Repercussions[]
Sockpuppetry is a serious breach of community trust. The wiki staff team or community can impose sanctions on sockmasters.
- Sockmasters are generally banned, and all of their accounts are blocked indefinitely.
- If a member of the wiki staff team is found to be a sockmaster, their user rights will be removed.
- Recruiting relatives, colleagues, friends, etc. to create accounts to support one side in a dispute (called meatpuppetry) has the same consequences as sockpuppetry.
Editors with legitimate alternate accounts should put {{Userbox/AlternateAccount}} on the user page of the alternate accounts, or {{Bot}} in the case of a bot account.
Finding Sockpuppets[]
Identifying sockpuppets can range from very easy to nearly impossible depending on the sockmaster. If a user is blocked for vandalsim, but then a new account vandalizes the same page in the same way, the new account is very likely a sockpuppet. However, determined sockmasters might revive an old, unused account (called a sleeper) to evade detection.
Similarities in the following can indicate potential sockpuppets.
- username, profile picture, and user page
- editing patterns and writing style
- areas of interest
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