Les Jones

Blogging > Brittney Has an Ethical Question About Sockpuppets

Brittney:

I write this because there are a handful of regular commenters at Nashville Is Talking, with blogs of their own, who use one name or handle to be sweet and funny and thoughtful, but another name entirely when they want to be insulting or rude or disagree. I know this because Movable Type tracks IP numbers. Sometimes JEFF (a name I made up) will be FRED when he wants to be an angry asshole and next time HANK and next time JOSH. And sometimes a commenter will have an entirely seperate alter ego. For instance, STACY (another name I made up) will be STACY for all things light and entertaining and otherwise innocuous, but then be FRANK when she wants to be mean. It's the craziest thing. An otherwise normal seeming woman with a polite little blog about her polite little life has this pseudonym that she leaves nasty comments under. Frankly, it hurts my feelings.

Anyway, my dilemma is this: Do I treat STACY and FRANK like two different people, even though I know they are not? If FRANK accuses me of lying while lying about who he is, then isn't it okay that I come out and call them on their whole charade? Or do I need to respect their ability to be whoever they want to be online and continue pretending they are two different people, and addressing them as such? Because, honestly, it gets hard to keep up.

That's a tough one, especially for a professional blogger like Brittney who is paid to blog.

The sockpuppetry isn't fair to Brittney. She shouldn't be tangled up in someone's deception. It's also not fair to other blog commentors. Sockpuppetry distorts online conversations by giving the sockpuppeter a louder voice than other commentors.

At the same time, a professional isn't in business to embarrass her customers. I'd handle the situation discretely with a private email. First, talk to management. Make an official policy change that prohibits sockpuppets. Then let the customer know that she's aware of the deception, and won't allow it. Sockpuppet posts will be deleted. (And the official policy of the site should prohibit sockpuppets.) The customer should be made aware that their deception will be revealed if egregious violations of the policy continue.