![]() to the end of their name, she could interact with others while pretending to be a practicing doctor.Īlthough this student is motivated by curiosity rather than evil, there are many ways her fake identity could be problematic. After creating the account with a photo of a person in a lab coat and adding M.D. A quicker way to become a member of the group would be to create a fake user profile online. She could go to medical school, but that would take at least seven years after graduating from college. Imagine that a high school student is interested in someday becoming a doctor and wants to know what the lifestyle is like behind the scenes. For example, imagine that there is a group on Facebook that is only intended for people who are licensed medical doctors. Sockpuppets are useful when someone wants to participate in an online community and needs to look like other members to fit in. Why would someone want to create a fake identity in the first place? However, due to the ‘primitive’ nature of older computer networks, it was much easier for users and moderators to figure out when someone was trying to guide multiple fake identities. Ever since the earliest days of the Internet, individuals have adopted fake online identities for personal or political reasons. As you can imagine, sockpuppets can be particularly powerful when wielded by malicious propagandists.įake online identities controlled by human beings with the goal of deceiving other people are not a new phenomenon. These people are sometimes referred to as “puppet masters.” Depending upon their motivation, skill, and technical resources, a single puppet master can control five, ten, or even twenty different identities at one time. Just as a physical sockpuppet disguises the hand of the person who makes it speak, a digital sockpuppet conceals the real-world identity of the human being controlling the fake account. ![]() Sometimes referred to as “trolls,” 1 sockpuppets are fake identities that malicious individuals use to deceive other people online. What are sockpuppets, and how do they persuade us online? If this is your first visit to Propaganda Critic, you might be surprised to notice the word ‘sockpuppet’ on a site devoted to propaganda analysis. Anti-American Propaganda from Afghanistan. ![]()
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