am I the only one here who suspects this?

[jaba]

trust me......this one's "ALL female"

And Jaba~will see you soon to discuss further...😉
XOXO

Hmmmmm.......a "female verification screening inspection"?......


Gotta be "thorough", right?...... 😉

 

[Redmage]

can you give a quick summation of that occurrence, Redmage? What was the situation?

In a heated discussion on one of the boards, a male member who was involved in the discussion created several additional accounts (both male and female) to post to the thread, in order to give the appearance of broad support for his position. The discussion was centered strongly on gender issues, so he created a couple of female alter egos in order to make it seem that women, in particular, were agreeing with his views. He even used one of the female accounts to start a thread about what a great guy he was.

and while obviously immature and unethical, is it technically against the rules to do this?

I don't know about technicalities, but in this case the mods shut the practice down as soon as they became aware of it.

 

[steph]

Hmm...we'll see about that Sir~have you been a good boy or a naughty one? 😡
I bet I know...
XOXO

Hmmmmm.......a "female verification screening inspection"?......


Gotta be "thorough", right?...... 😉

 

[jaba]

jaba collects....in "giggles"......

Hmm...we'll see about that Sir~have you been a good boy or a naughty one? 😡
I bet I know...
XOXO

that depends.......


who won the laker game (and the bet) last nite?.....

 

[drew70]

In a heated discussion on one of the boards, a male member who was involved in the discussion created several additional accounts (both male and female) to post to the thread, in order to give the appearance of broad support for his position. The discussion was centered strongly on gender issues, so he created a couple of female alter egos in order to make it seem that women, in particular, were agreeing with his views. He even used one of the female accounts to start a thread about what a great guy he was.

I don't know about technicalities, but in this case the mods shut the practice down as soon as they became aware of it.

Actually, that would be me. It's okay, Red. Thanks for protecting my identity, but I'll own up and take whatever abuse comes my way.

Everything Redmage said is true. Well, almost everything. The mods didn't shut down the practice. But I suspect somebody on the TMF staff spilled the beans to one or two key players in that heated discussion, and then the cat was out of the bag. Now, a couple of my "sockpuppets" as Myriads likes to call them were deleted when I used them during my banishment to the nosebleed section of the TMF a few months ago, but as far as I know, the rest of them are still intact. You see, unlike Tickle Theater, the TMF has no rules against multiple identities. Too difficult to enforce. It's far easier to simply expose those they catch.

So why did I do it? Well, like Redmage said, it was to bolster support during a heated discussion. I like to think of myself as a seasoned forum warrior, able to stand up to any level of opposition, but truth be told, I was overwhelmed by shear force of numbers. So, I decided to even the playing field a little by creating support from fictional characters. Let me tell you it's a lot harder than it seems. You've got to put your own personality aside and adopt somebody else's. My characters (or sockpuppets if you prefer) were all based on real people I know, it's the only way I could hope to pull it off. And it worked pretty well. For a while, anyway. The result is two or three of the most entertaining threads you'll find in the TMF archives.

Was it deceptive? Yeah, I guess it was to a degree. Did any real harm occur as a result? I don't think so. The mods don't think so, else I'd not still be here. I suppose some of you think this is deplorable behavior, and I'm not super inclined to argue. My intent was not so much to pull the wool over anybody's eyes. I just find the concept of secret identities fascinating and I was really interested to see if I could pull it off. I guess I got my answer.

So now, the big question? How many people out there in TMF land are really drew70 in cyber disguise? I quit doing the multiple personality thing after I was banned last year for other reasons. Frankly it was rather deflating to go to all that trouble covering my tracks only to be found out. Whatever it takes to pull it off, I haven't got it. More importantly, Myriads and a few others convinced me that my debating skills are sufficient enough that I don't need to create support from fictitious characters. 🙂

 

[storyteller]

Actually, that would be me. It's okay, Red. Thanks for protecting my identity, but I'll own up and take whatever abuse comes my way.

Everything Redmage said is true. Well, almost everything. The mods didn't shut down the practice. But I suspect somebody on the TMF staff spilled the beans to one or two key players in that heated discussion, and then the cat was out of the bag. Now, a couple of my "sockpuppets" as Myriads likes to call them were deleted when I used them during my banishment to the nosebleed section of the TMF a few months ago, but as far as I know, the rest of them are still intact. You see, unlike Tickle Theater, the TMF has no rules against multiple identities. Too difficult to enforce. It's far easier to simply expose those they catch.

So why did I do it? Well, like Redmage said, it was to bolster support during a heated discussion. I like to think of myself as a seasoned forum warrior, able to stand up to any level of opposition, but truth be told, I was overwhelmed by shear force of numbers. So, I decided to even the playing field a little by creating support from fictional characters. Let me tell you it's a lot harder than it seems. You've got to put your own personality aside and adopt somebody else's. My characters (or sockpuppets if you prefer) were all based on real people I know, it's the only way I could hope to pull it off. And it worked pretty well. For a while, anyway. The result is two or three of the most entertaining threads you'll find in the TMF archives.

Was it deceptive? Yeah, I guess it was to a degree. Did any real harm occur as a result? I don't think so. The mods don't think so, else I'd not still be here. I suppose some of you think this is deplorable behavior, and I'm not super inclined to argue. My intent was not so much to pull the wool over anybody's eyes. I just find the concept of secret identities fascinating and I was really interested to see if I could pull it off. I guess I got my answer.

So now, the big question? How many people out there in TMF land are really drew70 in cyber disguise? I quit doing the multiple personality thing after I was banned last year for other reasons. Frankly it was rather deflating to go to all that trouble covering my tracks only to be found out. Whatever it takes to pull it off, I haven't got it. More importantly, Myriads and a few others convinced me that my debating skills are sufficient enough that I don't need to create support from fictitious characters. 🙂

Thanks, drew, for your forthright admission. Your taking responsibility and providing an explanation and the results, to me, eliminates you from the "liar" category. May sound odd, but I consider people liars when they DON'T take responsibility or provide explanation for the lies they tell, whether they be outright lies, half-truths, or misleading "implications." At some point, we all adopt other personas and/or lie. Those of us with a conscience do so for solid reasons and admit to what we've done or said should we be found out or when things get out of hand or lead to someone else being hurt. That's the responsible thing to do and it's often hard, especially on our reputations. Kudos to you for your moral integrity.

 

[Babbles]

There's Masquerade and then there's Deception.

Ditto, Storyteller & Samamigo!!!
Hey, Drew, you're harmless

And now I have to go look up those threads as I'm *SURE they're "entertaining!!"

That's actually pretty frikkin' hilarious 🙄 especially in contrast with what else is lurking out here.

I know some are also worried about discovery in The Real World, and created an alter ego to throw off prying eyes, not to reveal every aspect of themselves in one shot. Or they're embarrassed to share images and thoughts or stories once they've met others here. There are many reasons for multiple sigs.

HOWEVER, what's *despicable is those who HIDE SIGNIFICANT OTHERS/SPOUSES

and you know who you are. Unfortunately I know a couple of you too,
though, as I just noted elsewhere, I don't blab, despite my screenname. And the evidence usually surfaces, though not quickly enough.

Many guys (and women) are upfront about this, most I think, but I've been disappointed once or twice to find someone who passed himself off as "single" simply, er,
failed to mention
a "significant other," and I found out from reading (or watching, clueless).

That was fun, let me tell you.

Some take their sweet time to reveal it, others don't at all. Some don't mention their SO's thinking they can fall back on the excuse that there are references to the person mentioned in a thread or two, and,
knowing FULL WELL the likelihood is the other person *hasn't noticed it, especially if relatively new,
they take advantage of their correspondent's ignorance until they're found out, and then the rat(s) may conveniently refer to said obscure thread;
"Well, it was posted!!" (Yeah, seven months ago in a thread 5 people looked into).

On the very infrequent instance I've looked to chat, I learned to ask, and then to be cautious.
I wouldn't want to be these goofballs' siggy others, and don't care to contribute in any way to their truly hurtful deception.

So give me Creative "Sock Puppets" anyday!!

 

[ChosenofMystra]

Actually, that would be me. It's okay, Red. Thanks for protecting my identity, but I'll own up and take whatever abuse comes my way.

Everything Redmage said is true. Well, almost everything. The mods didn't shut down the practice. But I suspect somebody on the TMF staff spilled the beans to one or two key players in that heated discussion, and then the cat was out of the bag. Now, a couple of my "sockpuppets" as Myriads likes to call them were deleted when I used them during my banishment to the nosebleed section of the TMF a few months ago, but as far as I know, the rest of them are still intact. You see, unlike Tickle Theater, the TMF has no rules against multiple identities. Too difficult to enforce. It's far easier to simply expose those they catch.

So why did I do it? Well, like Redmage said, it was to bolster support during a heated discussion. I like to think of myself as a seasoned forum warrior, able to stand up to any level of opposition, but truth be told, I was overwhelmed by shear force of numbers. So, I decided to even the playing field a little by creating support from fictional characters. Let me tell you it's a lot harder than it seems. You've got to put your own personality aside and adopt somebody else's. My characters (or sockpuppets if you prefer) were all based on real people I know, it's the only way I could hope to pull it off. And it worked pretty well. For a while, anyway. The result is two or three of the most entertaining threads you'll find in the TMF archives.

Was it deceptive? Yeah, I guess it was to a degree. Did any real harm occur as a result? I don't think so. The mods don't think so, else I'd not still be here. I suppose some of you think this is deplorable behavior, and I'm not super inclined to argue. My intent was not so much to pull the wool over anybody's eyes. I just find the concept of secret identities fascinating and I was really interested to see if I could pull it off. I guess I got my answer.

So now, the big question? How many people out there in TMF land are really drew70 in cyber disguise? I quit doing the multiple personality thing after I was banned last year for other reasons. Frankly it was rather deflating to go to all that trouble covering my tracks only to be found out. Whatever it takes to pull it off, I haven't got it. More importantly, Myriads and a few others convinced me that my debating skills are sufficient enough that I don't need to create support from fictitious characters. 🙂

I'm glad you owned up to whatever happened Drew. I'm also glad most people here let the past be the past and forget anything that ever happened like that. I can tell you are a respected member and you're ok in my book 🙂

 

[Strider]

There's Masquerade and then there's Deception.

I would generally agree with this. There's more than one type of troll, and some are just trying to be funny. There was a political board I used to post on where I started an alternate account in which I pretended I was Dr Doom (from Marvel Comics, for those of you who for some inexplicable reason don't know), and I never broke character. A lot of people thought it was hillarious even after I acknowledged it was me. There's a hell of a big difference between that and a professional troll who comes on with the specific intent to mess with people's heads and cause distress.

 

[Dussicar]

I would generally agree with this. There's more than one type of troll, and some are just trying to be funny. There was a political board I used to post on where I started an alternate account in which I pretended I was Dr Doom (from Marvel Comics, for those of you who for some inexplicable reason don't know), and I never broke character. A lot of people thought it was hillarious even after I acknowledged it was me. There's a hell of a big difference between that and a professional troll who comes on with the specific intent to mess with people's heads and cause distress.

The scary part is that I was on another forum where another guy did the exact same thing!

Maybe you guys should compare notes.

 

[isabeau]

Actually, that would be me. It's okay, Red. Thanks for protecting my identity, but I'll own up and take whatever abuse comes my way.

Everything Redmage said is true. Well, almost everything. The mods didn't shut down the practice. But I suspect somebody on the TMF staff spilled the beans to one or two key players in that heated discussion, and then the cat was out of the bag. Now, a couple of my "sockpuppets" as Myriads likes to call them were deleted when I used them during my banishment to the nosebleed section of the TMF a few months ago, but as far as I know, the rest of them are still intact. You see, unlike Tickle Theater, the TMF has no rules against multiple identities. Too difficult to enforce. It's far easier to simply expose those they catch.

So why did I do it? Well, like Redmage said, it was to bolster support during a heated discussion. I like to think of myself as a seasoned forum warrior, able to stand up to any level of opposition, but truth be told, I was overwhelmed by shear force of numbers. So, I decided to even the playing field a little by creating support from fictional characters. Let me tell you it's a lot harder than it seems. You've got to put your own personality aside and adopt somebody else's. My characters (or sockpuppets if you prefer) were all based on real people I know, it's the only way I could hope to pull it off. And it worked pretty well. For a while, anyway. The result is two or three of the most entertaining threads you'll find in the TMF archives.

Was it deceptive? Yeah, I guess it was to a degree. Did any real harm occur as a result? I don't think so. The mods don't think so, else I'd not still be here. I suppose some of you think this is deplorable behavior, and I'm not super inclined to argue. My intent was not so much to pull the wool over anybody's eyes. I just find the concept of secret identities fascinating and I was really interested to see if I could pull it off. I guess I got my answer.

So now, the big question? How many people out there in TMF land are really drew70 in cyber disguise? I quit doing the multiple personality thing after I was banned last year for other reasons. Frankly it was rather deflating to go to all that trouble covering my tracks only to be found out. Whatever it takes to pull it off, I haven't got it. More importantly, Myriads and a few others convinced me that my debating skills are sufficient enough that I don't need to create support from fictitious characters. 🙂

hot damn...i so admire you for admitting that..i remember that, and i have to admit you fooled me..maybe i'm easy to fool? i even pmd back and forth with the female...you rock my friend..

and your debating skills are very capable as you are.