Sock puppet (internet) facts for kids
A sockpuppet is like a secret online identity that someone uses to hide who they really are. Think of it as pretending to be someone else on the Internet. People might use a sockpuppet to share their ideas without anyone knowing it's them, or to gather information secretly. Sometimes, people even use sockpuppets to praise themselves or make it seem like many people agree with them, when it's just one person pretending to be many! Many online groups and websites try to stop people from using sockpuppets because it's not fair or honest.
Contents
What Are Sockpuppets?
A sockpuppet is a fake online name or profile. It helps a person hide their true identity. People might use a sockpuppet to:
- Share their opinions or ideas without revealing who they are.
- Make it look like many different people support an idea, when it's just one person.
- Talk about themselves in a good way, pretending to be someone else.
- Play tricks or make fun of someone's ideas, especially in politics.
Many websites and online communities have rules against using sockpuppets. They want everyone to be honest about who they are.
History of the Term
The word "sockpuppet" was first used in this way around 1993. By 1996, many people knew what it meant. The Oxford English Dictionary first said it meant "a person whose actions are controlled by another."
In 2006, something interesting happened in politics. An assistant to a Republican politician was caught using a fake online name. This assistant was posting messages on websites used by the Democratic Party. They were trying to convince Democrats not to support a certain person running for office. This is an example of how sockpuppets can be used in politics to try and influence people.
Other Examples of Hidden Identities
Using a fake name or identity is not new. It happened long before the Internet!
- Writers Using Fake Names: Famous writers like Walt Whitman and Anthony Burgess sometimes wrote reviews of their own books using different names. This made it seem like someone else was praising their work.
- Benjamin Franklin's Many Names: The famous American inventor and writer, Benjamin Franklin, used many different fake names. Sometimes he did this to avoid censorship, which means stopping people from saying or writing certain things. Other times, he invented characters to argue different sides of a topic. He also used fake names to write funny stories or make people laugh.
- Secret Online Work: Even some intelligence agencies (groups that gather secret information for a country) use sockpuppets. They do this to hide the identities of people who are collecting information online. There are even special computer programs designed to help manage many different online identities at once.
- Wikipedia and Sockpuppets: In 2013, the Wikimedia Foundation (the group that runs Wikipedia) said that using sockpuppets to get paid for promoting things on Wikipedia was wrong. They even banned a public relations company called Wiki-PR because it was using fake accounts to edit Wikipedia articles for money.
Images for kids
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In Internet terms, sock puppets are online identities used for disguised activity by the operator.
See also
In Spanish: Cuenta de usuario títere para niños
