Sock Puppets
- Thread starter Mayhem
- Start date
I'm still working on the rules page, but wanted to give an update on the sock puppet thing today:
Personally, I don't mind if people use sock puppets for purposes of roleplay or privacy. Where I would draw the line is if these accounts are being used to harass others, abuse a feature on the site (Tachyon/like farming), or bypassing an account ban. Things like that.
Personally, I don't mind if people use sock puppets for purposes of roleplay or privacy. Where I would draw the line is if these accounts are being used to harass others, abuse a feature on the site (Tachyon/like farming), or bypassing an account ban. Things like that.
Walker
Temporal Novice
By other forum do you mean Paranormalis? I gave that place to Num in 2012 and he's done a great job with it as far as I can tell. I've been around the block a few times, and this site (hopefully) has a different personality than the others. From that I hope you can see I make the best choices I can to keep this an interesting place to be.
Other sites are other sites... I've honestly not really even paid attention to what anyone else is doing. ATS, GLP, Paranormalis, C2C AM, whatever podcasts are out there... I lost interest for a long while because it's a lot of one extreme or the other. I like weird ideas and chasing down rabbit holes, even if the concept devolves into something ridiculous and impossible. What I enjoy is the idea, and where the tangents it creates takes us. I believe those ideas reveal things about ourselves and the world that we might not otherwise discover.
At the same time, people who post things should be able to answer reasonable questions without becoming defensive or emotional. It's about the journey, not the dogma. And the idea should be able to be examined from all angles. Even preposterous or challenging ones.
I've isolated/insulated TTI to some degree by feeling this way and being withdrawn for a long while, and that's helped me find what I want TTI to be. There was a length of time where I chose to have no site than one I wasn't a fan of myself. I'm the only moderator so any choices made are mine, but I welcome advice from wherever it originates. Some of it I take, some I don't.
New members much reach one week of registration and 25 posts before they get moved to the "main" usergroup with all the permissions. This is done to protect our long-time members and reduce spam, but I'll bump you up so you can use PM now
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I think I'm reversing my stance on this. I'll re-implement anonymous posting for paid members (coming soon) and for anyone in the Confessions of a Chrononaut forum, but I think I prefer if people come here to interact in good faith. It's easier to abuse multiple accounts on this software, so I'm going to work on a few changes to get things working in that direction.
Darby
Epochal Historian
A year later...
As you know, back in 2000-2001 we weren't required to register. One could register a main account and sock puppets if they chose to do so or they could use a new one time unregistered handle every time they logged on. It did cause some chaos especially after Raul hid our IP addresses while continuing the original policy of not requiring registration. Once the IPs were no longer visible it was too easy to troll the forums anonymously. Most members didn't realize all they had to do was PM Raul and he could look at the log to see the IP. The Internet was really a new toy for the vast majority of people so at first they weren't all that familiar with the capabilities of the forum software at the SysAdmin end.
Unfortunately there are people on alt-sci sites like this who are, to put it bluntly, unhinged. They would get angry if the conversation wasn't going as planned. So they would get even. They would create sock puppets and played them as if they were their nemesis posting and trolling. The unhinged member would attempt to set up the nemesis so that Raul would perma-ban them. Instead Raul decided we all had to register, sock puppets were not allowed and certain handles were reserved including all permutations of John Titor/John_Titor and Time Trave_O/Time Travel_0 plus some other reserved handles including Pamela and Darby. The forum software blocked new members from using those names.
Raul also had a pretty strong TOS agreement that spelled out what behavior was unacceptable, that members were required to safequard their IRL identities by never revealing it in a public forum post and never reveal another member's IRL identity on a TTI public or private forum or PM. There were actually few restrictions but Raul did enforce them.
Just something to consider.
As you know, back in 2000-2001 we weren't required to register. One could register a main account and sock puppets if they chose to do so or they could use a new one time unregistered handle every time they logged on. It did cause some chaos especially after Raul hid our IP addresses while continuing the original policy of not requiring registration. Once the IPs were no longer visible it was too easy to troll the forums anonymously. Most members didn't realize all they had to do was PM Raul and he could look at the log to see the IP. The Internet was really a new toy for the vast majority of people so at first they weren't all that familiar with the capabilities of the forum software at the SysAdmin end.
Unfortunately there are people on alt-sci sites like this who are, to put it bluntly, unhinged. They would get angry if the conversation wasn't going as planned. So they would get even. They would create sock puppets and played them as if they were their nemesis posting and trolling. The unhinged member would attempt to set up the nemesis so that Raul would perma-ban them. Instead Raul decided we all had to register, sock puppets were not allowed and certain handles were reserved including all permutations of John Titor/John_Titor and Time Trave_O/Time Travel_0 plus some other reserved handles including Pamela and Darby. The forum software blocked new members from using those names.
Raul also had a pretty strong TOS agreement that spelled out what behavior was unacceptable, that members were required to safequard their IRL identities by never revealing it in a public forum post and never reveal another member's IRL identity on a TTI public or private forum or PM. There were actually few restrictions but Raul did enforce them.
Just something to consider.
Wind7
Chrono Cadet
What a load of codswallop!
@Walker , You are THE main reason that sock puppetry has become so frowned upon as
after becoming the newest mod at "that other forum" I was able to see just how many times you and that other one 'Mullac'
had absolutely abused the system and rules there.
You, personally, have had at least 20+ different personas you used to abuse the members and insult the intelligences therein.
As of now, attendances have been lower than usual but...It's exactly the same on the 3 other forums I frequent
and they have all (basically) said the same thing in that, People are exceptionally angry these days
and that seems to have affected everyone and no one feels the need to express themselves where negativity shows.
It's just a fact of life.
Maybe things will turn eventually (again) but that is just the nature of the beast since
the advent of Social Media (Facebook...X (formerly twitter)....etc.
Facts are facts and I find it good that people are STILL using forums to this day.
Yeah, we do have rules and we still have to enforce them but.....We ain't nothing like FB or Twit......
...And I'm told that, that's a good thing.
Num7
Staff member
Yeah, social media, combined with the reality that everyone and their dog can access the Internet, is something we didn't know before. I mean, even your fridge can go on Facebook now.
Many people see Facebook as a place to vent and attack each other. Say stuff they wouldn't dare say in real life. It's a bad place. And to a lot of those folks, Facebook is the whole Internet. So much negativity.
So imagine when they find a place like TTI, where everyone's nice and civil, but maybe will politely challenge their views?
Today's forums are what remains of the old BBS platforms. We've been online since before Facebook, and before these folks discovered the Internet. It feels odd when put that way... Back then, rules weren't required most of the time. A simple posting etiquette that newcomers would learn to abide by naturally was enough. That sounds unbelievable in 2024!
Well, that's why sock puppets are not a good thing.
Many people see Facebook as a place to vent and attack each other. Say stuff they wouldn't dare say in real life. It's a bad place. And to a lot of those folks, Facebook is the whole Internet. So much negativity.
So imagine when they find a place like TTI, where everyone's nice and civil, but maybe will politely challenge their views?
Today's forums are what remains of the old BBS platforms. We've been online since before Facebook, and before these folks discovered the Internet. It feels odd when put that way... Back then, rules weren't required most of the time. A simple posting etiquette that newcomers would learn to abide by naturally was enough. That sounds unbelievable in 2024!
Well, that's why sock puppets are not a good thing.
TTI still allows anonymous posting, where you can choose any name to display, but those posts are held for moderation. We usually approve them as long as they’re not obvious spam or trolling. Naturally, this leads to some level of sock puppeting, but the IPs are recorded, and if necessary, we can check them. I don’t believe IP addresses should be shared publicly, but on a site like this, it’s fair to ask, “Are these people the same?” if something seems off, and we can look into it.
I agree that Titor-specific usernames can blur things, some more than others. I’ll work on clearing that up, as it definitely contributes to confusion and misinformation, especially for casual visitors trying to get to the real story.
I’m also working on a comprehensive Titor page, currently over 8,500 words. It’s a deep dive into the whole story, and Num has read it—it’ll do the subject justice. Once it goes live, this will make it easier for people genuinely interested in the real history to find the original material without getting caught up in the noise.
In the next iteration of the article, I’m planning to add an on-page, filterable database of Titor’s posts, searchable by keyword or subject. For some of the longer posts, I might include a "tl;dr" to make them easier to digest, which should help cut through some of the noise.
Whether someone believes the Titor story or not, it’s still fun and compelling. At least to me. Presenting the original material in a clear, accessible way will help distinguish the lore from the roleplayers.
I agree that Titor-specific usernames can blur things, some more than others. I’ll work on clearing that up, as it definitely contributes to confusion and misinformation, especially for casual visitors trying to get to the real story.
I’m also working on a comprehensive Titor page, currently over 8,500 words. It’s a deep dive into the whole story, and Num has read it—it’ll do the subject justice. Once it goes live, this will make it easier for people genuinely interested in the real history to find the original material without getting caught up in the noise.
In the next iteration of the article, I’m planning to add an on-page, filterable database of Titor’s posts, searchable by keyword or subject. For some of the longer posts, I might include a "tl;dr" to make them easier to digest, which should help cut through some of the noise.
Whether someone believes the Titor story or not, it’s still fun and compelling. At least to me. Presenting the original material in a clear, accessible way will help distinguish the lore from the roleplayers.
Darby
Epochal Historian
Thank you for that Cosmo. As anyone here can attest I seem to enjoy debating the Titor Saga and have spent time for almost a quarter of a century doing so. But I'm also very protective of the integrity of the original posts. When Post-2-Post was suddenly taken down without any prior notice Pamela Moore, Rick Donaldson and I over at the old Anomalies.net BBS agreed that we would do our best to collect, save and never edit in any way the original threads that Titor/TT0 posted on. To that end all three of us saved personal copies of all the threads on our systems and then made sure that TTI had copies as well.
Both MOP and you have done outstanding jobs of making sure that the original posts aren't altered. That effort goes hand-in-hand with protecting the user names John Titor and TimeTravel_0.
PaulaJedi
Rift Surfer
Protecting the urban legend is important in my eyes, whether one believes or not. Thank you for your efforts.
