Site Notes

Notice: Sock Puppet Accounts Will Be Deleted

By Ryan McGreal
Published October 01, 2009

An individual has attempted to 'game' the RTH comment scores by creating multiple sock puppet accounts and mass downvoting selected comments. This is a clear violation of the RTH user guidelines and a betrayal of the trust that goes along with participating in an online community.

It is trolling taken to the next level, and it will not be tolerated. Sock puppet accounts will be deleted without warning or notice.

We will not allow this site to be overrun by trolls.

If necessary, we may also modify the comment voting process so that registered users must achieve a minimum comment score threshold before the ability to vote on other comments takes effect. If that isn't enough, we may need to change the user confirmation process so that addresses from throwaway email providers are disallowed.

But ultimately this is nothing more than an arms race, an endless competition for a relative positional security. Frankly, it's a stupid waste of time when there are so many more pressing issues to deal with, but trolls delight in wasting people's time. It's their raison d'être, and it's why RTH had to implement comment scoring in the first place.

Ryan McGreal, the editor of Raise the Hammer, lives in Hamilton with his family and works as a programmer, writer and consultant. Ryan volunteers with Hamilton Light Rail, a citizen group dedicated to bringing light rail transit to Hamilton. Ryan wrote a city affairs column in Hamilton Magazine, and several of his articles have been published in the Hamilton Spectator. His articles have also been published in The Walrus, HuffPost and Behind the Numbers. He maintains a personal website, has been known to share passing thoughts on Twitter and Facebook, and posts the occasional cat photo on Instagram.

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By jason (registered) | Posted October 01, 2009 at 14:33:08

darn it. you caught me.

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By madmatt (anonymous) | Posted October 02, 2009 at 09:28:53

I don't think Ed is going to be too pleased.

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