Bridgeopedia Wiki:Sock puppetry

The use of multiple Bridgeopedia user accounts for an improper purpose is called sock puppetry (or simply socking). Improper purposes include attempts to deceive or mislead other editors, disrupt discussions, distort consensus, avoid sanctions, evade blocks, or otherwise violate community standards and policies.

Bridgeopedia editors are generally expected to edit using at most one account. Using a single account maintains editing continuity, improves accountability, and increases community trust, which helps to build long-term stability for the encyclopedia. While there are some valid reasons for maintaining multiple accounts on the project, the improper use of multiple accounts is not allowed.

Sock puppetry can take on several different forms:
 * Creating new accounts to avoid detection
 * Using another person's account (piggybacking)
 * Logging out to make problematic edits as an anonymous user
 * Reviving old unused accounts (sometimes referred to as "sleepers") and presenting them as different users
 * Persuading friends or acquaintances to create accounts for the purpose of supporting one side of a dispute

The misuse of multiple accounts is considered a serious breach of community trust. It may lead to:
 * a block of all affected accounts
 * a ban of the user (the sockmaster or sockpuppeteer) behind the accounts (each of which is a sockpuppet or sock)

Editors who want to use more than one account for some valid reason should provide links between them on the respective user pages, with an explanation of the purpose of each account or of the relationship between them. If so desired, the user and user talk pages from one account can be redirected to the other. Editors who use unlinked alternative accounts, or who edit as an IP address editor separate from their account, should carefully avoid any crossover on articles or topics, because even innocuous activities such as copy editing, wikifying, or linking might be considered sock puppetry in some cases and innocuous intentions will not usually serve as an excuse.

Inappropriate uses of alternative accounts
Editors must not use alternative accounts to mislead, deceive, disrupt, or undermine consensus. This includes, but is not limited to:


 * Creating an illusion of support: Alternative accounts must not be used to give the impression of more support for a position than actually exists.


 * Strawman socks: Creating a separate account to argue one side of an issue in a deliberately irrational or offensive fashion, to sway opinion to another side.


 * Editing project space: Undisclosed alternative accounts are not to be used in discussions internal to the project.
 * Circumventing policies or sanctions: Policies apply per person, not per account. Policies such as the three-revert rule are for each person's edits. Using a second account to violate policy will cause any penalties to be applied to your main account, and in the case of sanctions, bans, or blocks, evasion typically causes the timer to restart.
 * Contributing to the same page or discussion with multiple accounts: Editors may not use more than one account to contribute to the same page or discussion in a way that suggests they are multiple people. Contributing to the same page with clearly linked, legitimate, alternative accounts (e.g. editing the same page with your main and public computer account or editing a page using your main account that your bot account edited) is not forbidden.


 * Avoiding scrutiny: Using alternative accounts that are not fully and openly disclosed to split your editing history means that other editors may not be able to detect patterns in your contributions. While this is permitted in certain circumstances (see legitimate uses), it is a violation of this policy to create alternative accounts to confuse or deceive editors who may have a legitimate interest in reviewing your contributions.


 * Editing logged out to mislead: Editing under multiple IP addresses may be treated the same as editing under multiple accounts where it is done deceptively or otherwise violates the principles of this policy. Where editors log out by mistake, they may wish to contact an editor with oversight access to ensure there is no misunderstanding.


 * "Good hand" and "bad hand" accounts: Using one account for constructive contributions and the other one for disruptive editing or vandalism.


 * Deceptively seeking positions of community trust. You may not run for positions of trust without disclosing that you have previously edited under another account. Adminship reflects the community's trust in an individual, not an account, so when applying for adminship, it is expected that you will disclose past accounts openly, or to email the project founder if the accounts must be kept private. Administrators who fail to disclose past accounts risk being desysopped, particularly if knowledge of them would have influenced the outcome of the RfA.


 * Administrators with multiple accounts: Editors may not have more than one administrator account, except for bots with administrator privileges. As well, Wikia staff may operate more than one admin account, though they must make known who they are.  If an administrator leaves, comes back under a new name and is nominated for adminship, he or she must give up the admin access of their old account.

Legitimate uses
Alternative accounts have legitimate uses. For example, editors who contribute using their real name may wish to use a pseudonym for contributions with which they do not want their real name to be associated, or long-term users might create a new account to better understand the editing experience from a new user's perspective. These accounts are not considered sockpuppets. If you use a legitimate alternative account, it is your responsibility to ensure that you do not use it in an illegitimate manner according to this policy.

Valid reasons for an alternative account include:


 * Security: You may register an alternative account for use when accessing Bridgeopedia through a public computer, connecting to an unsecured network, or other scenarios when there's a risk of your account being compromised. Such accounts should be publicly connected to the main account or use an easily identified name.
 * Privacy: A person editing an article which is highly controversial within his/her family, social or professional circle, and whose Bridgeopedia identity is known within that circle, or traceable to their real-world identity, may wish to use an alternative account to avoid real-world consequences from their editing or other Bridgeopedia actions in that area. Although a privacy-based alternative account is not publicly connected to your main account, it should not be used in ways outlined in the inappropriate uses section of this page, and if it is, the account may be publicly linked to your main account for sanctions.
 * Doppelgänger accounts: A doppelgänger account is an account created with a username similar to your main account to prevent impersonation. Such accounts should not be used for editing. Doppelgänger accounts may be marked with a notice, or can simply redirect to the main account's userpage.
 * Username violations: If you are blocked for having an inappropriate username, and that is the sole reason for the block, you are permitted to create a new account with an appropriate username.
 * Compromised accounts: If you are unable to access your account because you have lost the password or because someone has obtained or guessed your password, you may create a new account with a clean password. In such a case, you should post a note on the user page of each account indicating that they are alternative accounts for the same person. If necessary, you should also ask for an admin to block the compromised account.

Alternative accounts should always be identified as such on their user pages, except where doing so would defeat the point of the account.

Editing while logged out
There is no policy against editing while logged out per se. This happens for many reasons, including not noticing that the login session had expired, changing computers, going to a Bridgeopedia page directly from a link, and forgetting passwords. Editors who are not logged in must not actively try to deceive other editors, such as by directly saying that they do not have an account or by using the session for the inappropriate uses of alternate accounts listed earlier in this policy. To protect their privacy, editors who have edited while logged out are never required to connect their usernames to their IP addresses on-wiki.