Sunday 8 September 2013

Sock puppetry

I thought the hoo-ha about this had died down, but came across it on a forum the other day.

For those who don't know (lucky you) it's the creation of false identities, on line, to argue with on forums, or twitter, or put lovely comments on your blog so you can look really popular. Some months ago a writer admitted on radio to using countless sock puppets to develop an internet storm about his books - and there was general agreement that this was cheating.

It still goes on, apparently. (You yawning already?). Which leaves me wondering - why? Am I missing something? Should I, too, have an alter ego who drops by the blog on a regular basis and tells me how clever and witty I am?

Whether I should or not, I'm not going to. I have enough trouble keeping the person I am in order without creating a separate persona. It feels too much like hard work. For instance, when commenting on your own blog, do you write something witty and wonderful and risk someone clicking on the link - and then finding it's you all the time? Or write something tedious and make it look as if you have a following of plonkers? And if you review your own book do you eulogise about its wonderfulness, or remind people of the wonky bit on page 74 that you were secretly hoping nobody would notice? No - it's all far too complicated for me.

But - is it cheating? Really? When it's so easy, and I understand it's common? We beaver away at our own little blogs, and love it when there's a gathering of comments. Everyone must love us. Or does it simply perpetuate an illusion that online popularity matters - when it is really the love of friends and family that keep the world turning, not the number of comments on a blog.

Or am I simply naive?

18 comments:

  1. Jo, I'm doing two in one here! I missed your last post for some strange reason but I found it very touching. Yes, life seems very quiet once the school term starts again doesn't it? As for this, I can imagine it's tempting (I'd never heard the term sock puppets before) to write a comment on your own blog if you don't get any comments at all. A blog is a bit of a lonely place when it's just you and I've seen a number of blogs where people write their daily thoughts and receive nothing in return (maybe they don't visit other people's either). All the same, I find that less worrisome than the people who create a false identity so they can be nasty on someone else's blog or FB page. I've come across that too and to me that's just totally abhorrent. In the end, though you are right. It is the love of friends and family that really counts, not the number of comments!

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    1. I'm amazed anyone bothers, Val - but it seems they do!

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  2. Absolutely...family and friends are the ones who count (and online ''family''). Anyway you don't need to create a persona to tell you how wonderful you are...1. You are 2. You have us to tell you! Simples.

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    1. Thank you, Carol - it's truly wonderful to have friends!

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  4. Third try... too early for me to be making sensible blog comments!

    Anyway... most of all I loathe the term sock puppetry and will never use it again... Reason people do this is to get more people reading their blog/books, obviously. If you're getting so few reviews and blog views/comments that it bothers you, then, as I am sure you agree, the best way to remedy this is to reconsider a) your books/blog and b) your marketing. Anyone who performs (that stupid phrase) is a complete loser, of the kind with a big neon green 'L' on their forehead - never ceases to amaze me when I see such profiles on Twitter - they're always so obvious!! :)

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    1. Thank for your persistence, Terry. I know we're told we need to 'create a stir' about our work, to help it sell. But creating different personna - that's more than stirring, that's soup!

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  5. Well, I for one could not be bothered creating an alter ego to comment on my own blog! I feel very blest that a small number of lovely women throughout the world drop in and comment from time to time; I am happy with that.
    If you are naïve, I am too - I had no idea the sock puppet thing goes on!

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    1. Agreed - if I want to talk to myself I can do it in the privacy of my own kitchen, I don't need to do it on my blog.

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  6. Like you, I think it sounds like way too much hard work to be worth it. And how can it possibly be worth it anyway? Doesn't make sense and seems like a big waste of time. Want comments? Then write a blog post that people can relate too. I'm even surprised the idea got a name because the whole concept seems ridiculous.

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    1. I came across it first on authonomy - but it seems it's widespread. Maybe some people have too much time on their hands?

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  7. This post made me remember the days long ago when Mum and Dad had a market stall. I used to wander round to the pitchers and watch them shouting out their patter. A regular trick of theirs was to get a friend to turn up just as the crowd gathered. Their job was to exclaim what a bargain the item was and buy one. We all knew it happened but no one minded. It was their way of doing business and it worked for them. My parents didn't work that way but still had their regular customers by making the stall look exciting and welcoming. It's just a different way of selling your wares.

    As for setting up false identities to be horrid to others, that's totally unacceptable and not what I'm referring to at all.

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    1. I think getting friends to turn up and talk about a wonderful stall - that's not so different from us all RTing tweets for each other. But it feels very different from creating a new persona oneself to comment on your own blogpost - and certainly from using that persona to rubbish someone else.

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  8. Hmm, I think if I went to the trouble of putting together post after post after post and nobody ever stopped to leave a comment, I'd simply stop blogging. No way I'd want to pretend to be someone else to leave comments on my own blog. How sad is that? (And if nobody's visiting your blog, who the heck's gonna read your fake comments, anyhow?) The idea of blogging is to widen our vistas and communicate with other people around the world. I can communicate with MYSELF just fine without going to all the trouble of researching and writing blog posts!

    I finished reading your book, Jo, and I LOVED it. It felt like part travelogue, and part listening to a dear friend's stories. You struck exactly the right note, and I must say, WOW! do I ever admire you for having the guts to embark on such adventures. I promise to write a review on Amazon asap, and I'll also mention your book on my blog.

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    1. So glad you enjoyed my ramblings, Susan - and a review would, of course, be wonderful.

      And I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one to question the usefulness of writing to oneself on blogger!

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  9. I did not know that this phenomenon was widespread and definitely didn't know it was called sock puppetry (which is a perfect name for it). It's all very silly, though, isn't it? Luckily, my dog tells me I'm wonderful so I don't need to create additional identities.

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  10. I remember a crazy pair who did all kinds of odd things to publicise themselves. Sock puppets galore - of course. Whipping up media frenzy, and fake Amazon reviews.... Best of all was pretending to murder his mother to get into the papers and thereby publicise their work. The mum colluded so I suppose sock puppetry ran in the family :)

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