Thread by @dappergander

As people who fancy themselves social hackers have become more involved with QAnon, they've brought with them the kinds of internet antics that have worked for them in the past on chan boards, forums and other platforms on social media.

The most annoying of these is sockpuppets.

For those who might not know, sockpuppets are non-genuine accounts that are created with the purpose of deceiving others. The usual tactic is to create the impression that an idea or person has more support than they really do, a single user controlling many accounts.

They're used to steer threads, rig polls, harass dissenters, and create the appearance of consensus.

And it might seem like a waste of time to you, and I might agree, but there are folks out there for whom this is their online entertainment.

There are communities out there dedicated to uncovering the sockpuppets of particularly hated users, and this too is a form of entertainment.

The hated user creates new accounts and the hunters chase them. Both sides enjoy the game, though probably neither side would admit it.

Sockpuppets erode the confidence of users on a platform, particularly an anonymous one with low barriers to entry.

If a user has 5 or 40 or 100 bad faith accounts and decides to latch on to you, it's natural that you would start to wonder who's real.

Calling them out sometimes works, as does reporting.

But I'm sorry to say there's no real solution. If Twitter is to remain an anonymous, open platform, then bad-faith actors generating dozens of accounts is a consequence.

Caution is appropriate on anonymous platforms.