One person, multiple accounts??

Allright. First of all For privacy reasons I am NOT going to reveal which posters I'm talking about, so sorry, I can't give the "Evidence" to back up my hunch.

Sometimes when I read a thread--particularly some of these by "one hit wonder/bored kids" posters--I get the feeling that the OP has posted the thread under one name, then logged in to one or more in order to "support" himself. Usually it's that the posts are written with the same diction, or the same bad grammar.

It's really just a minor annoyance, but it gets my paranoid mind turning, and I wonder... does this happen on a larger scale?(paid disinfo agents, note this tip: ) Potentially that could completely skew the popularity of a certain topic or be used to artificially create rifts with one person arguing both sides of one topic --divide and conquere--i wonder if this doesn't happen in the 9/11 and CiR forums.

It's unethical... certainly not denying ignorance...

I don't have evidence of this since I can't track IPs, but I wonder if anyone else suspects that this is happening?


Edit because i accitentally put in a smiley and this is, like, so not funny.

[edit on 20-9-2008 by asmeone2]

i have noticed the same thing. especially in the 9/11 forums, i might even be suspicious of the same people.

The ATS Terms & Conditions...

Are quite clear...

2c.) Multiple Accounts: You will not create multiple user accounts and "talk to yourself".

Mod Edit: Terms & Conditions Of Use – Please Review This Link.

Originally posted by Mirthful Me
The ATS Terms & Conditions...

Are quite clear...

2c.) Multiple Accounts: You will not create multiple user accounts and "talk to yourself".

Mod Edit: Terms & Conditions Of Use – Please Review This Link.

Yes, but respectfully, that doesn't mean that they will always be followed.

Even with tracking IP addresses, there's ways to get around this, as with using 2 different computers, public internet providers, perhaps a different handheld account for each account.

Originally posted by pureevil81
i have noticed the same thing. especially in the 9/11 forums, i might even be suspicious of the same people.

Yes, that is a big one,

The one that made me most suspicious was--I think it may have been deleted or moved now--a thread about some rap musicians who had made a song about the NWO or something--these were very obscure artists but 3 people responded with "oh yeah, they are awesome, blah blah..." seemed more advertising than anything!

Originally posted by asmeone2
Allright. First of all For privacy reasons I am NOT going to reveal which posters I'm talking about, so sorry, I can't give the "Evidence" to back up my hunch.

Sometimes when I read a thread--particularly some of these by "one hit wonder/bored kids" posters--I get the feeling that the OP has posted the thread under one name, then logged in to one or more in order to "support" himself. Usually it's that the posts are written with the same diction, or the same bad grammar.

It's really just a minor annoyance, but it gets my paranoid mind turning, and I wonder... does this happen on a larger scale?(paid disinfo agents, note this tip: ) Potentially that could completely skew the popularity of a certain topic or be used to artificially create rifts with one person arguing both sides of one topic --divide and conquere--i wonder if this doesn't happen in the 9/11 and CiR forums.

It's unethical... certainly not denying ignorance...

I don't have evidence of this since I can't track IPs, but I wonder if anyone else suspects that this is happening?

Edit because i accitentally put in a smiley and this is, like, so not funny.

[edit on 20-9-2008 by asmeone2]

Ah, young grasshopper! You have nearly snatched the pebble from my hand.

You are starting to wake up to certain trends and patterns in online forums such as this. Keep up the good work. You are starting to see the forest, instead of each individual tree. Nice work.

reply to post by asmeone2


I think that example might be a little far fetched, however I have had the same inkling several times since Ive been on these boards.

If you think about it though, it could be a powerful tactic for mind control. If a person was weak minded, which sadly comprise many people, myself included at times, and they encountered a disinfo agent typing under 10 different accounts, it's possible that you could totally mislead a person using the power of conformity. Also having ten accounts or more could allow someone to star and flag themselves several times in order to somehow boost attention to some type of divisive topic.

who knows? but the mind # is deep, and its not something that would be impossible. Perhaps even the whole idea of it being a reality is the mind #?

reply to post by Mirthful Me


Yeah, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened and doesn't continue to happen. The system isn't flawless, and I know for sure of a few counts floating around that are probably a mod's "what I really want to say" account.




[edit on 20-9-2008 by DeadFlagBlues]

I found a thread on BTS a few days ago that was almost identical to an older thread.

A couple of other people responded with words to the effect that the subject had been raised several times before, but I replied with a link to the other thread. And asked the person if they might be related to the earlier poster - the names had a similar 'feel'.

Have you tried doing that? I admit calling out what might be a kid on BTS is a bit different to challenging a serious disinfo agent, but it might be worth a try.

if you think you see this happening, please file a complaint. the staff will then handle it and, rest assured, any complaint filed is kept private so only the staff are aware of the issue.

Having been involved in many forums (Am Admin and Mod on various very big forums) over the years this is sadly something that happens quite a lot. Its a shame because it can spoil the flow of the thread. IP tracking only does so much and ultimatly the answer is to ban an IP address from registering for another account and also the current account thats tracked back to the IP in question.

Originally posted by Crakeur
if you think you see this happening, please file a complaint. the staff will then handle it and, rest assured, any complaint filed is kept private so only the staff are aware of the issue.

I filed a complaint about a member several weeks ago and had no response - not even a U2U to tell me I was wrong or to mind my own business.

I've never had a problem with people starting threads that some members might find silly and I accept that there will be the odd hoax here and there. But, the person I was complaining about was worrying people. There were two accounts, both very active and both showing a very vivid imagination.

I compiled a very comprehensive (I thought) report with another member who had similar suspicions and sent it in.

Since then the person I was complaining about has voluntarily left ATS, but I don't know if that's coincidence or if they were given the opportunity to leave gracefully.

In this instance if, as I suspect, the evidence was strong enough to label this person a hoaxer, I think members should be told. Some people might still believe him/ them and would see the posts in a different light if there was a strong enough suspicion or proof that the threads were made by the same person.

If there were two people involved there were definite signs of collusion.

edit for spelling





[edit on 20-9-2008 by berenike]

reply to post by berenike


I'll look into your complaint. it should be noted that we get a large number of complaints/suggestions each day and we do our best to tackle each and every one of them. the downside to this is that we often don't have the time or ability to alert the original sender that we're working on it.

Yo, Crakeur, I did the same. Didn't hear back about it.

Originally posted by sir_chancealot

Ah, young grasshopper! You have nearly snatched the pebble from my hand.

You are starting to wake up to certain trends and patterns in online forums such as this. Keep up the good work. You are starting to see the forest, instead of each individual tree. Nice work.

I've seen the "forest" for quite a while Chancealot... especially on other forums... but I was becoming curious whether anyone else had suspected multiple accounts on this forum?

Originally posted by iiinvision


If you think about it though, it could be a powerful tactic for mind control. If a person was weak minded, which sadly comprise many people, myself included at times, and they encountered a disinfo agent typing under 10 different accounts, it's possible that you could totally mislead a person using the power of conformity. Also having ten accounts or more could allow someone to star and flag themselves several times in order to somehow boost attention to some type of divisive topic.

I don't have any way of knowing if that is happening--what I've noticed seems to be individual attempts to promote a thread with very little real merit--but who knows? i can's say that it isn't happening and what a powerful tool it would be.

Originally posted by berenike
I found a thread on BTS a few days ago that was almost identical to an older thread.

A couple of other people responded with words to the effect that the subject had been raised several times before, but I replied with a link to the other thread. And asked the person if they might be related to the earlier poster - the names had a similar 'feel'.

Have you tried doing that? I admit calling out what might be a kid on BTS is a bit different to challenging a serious disinfo agent, but it might be worth a try.

NO, I don't want to provoke the "just kids" to a useless arguement, and I don't have what it takes to gather evidence against the "disinfo" agents...

I thought very seriously about calliong out Dmitri_Habibob, though, because I was 80% sure that someone reading the "worst Conspiracies" thread had made that account as an attempt to get mentioned there.

There is a funny an informative thread on this subject:

2 usernames 1 ip address

It's really worth checking out.

reply to post by berenike


I have checked all the staff areas and there isn't a complaint or other posting from you.

Dare I ask if that's your only account?

Banning the IP address would punish people who have more than one account in their household, My wife has an account and we made a rule when she opened it, that under no circumstance would she comment on anything i had posted, and she wouldn't break that for anything.

I did have a problem with one of the kids, she used my account while i was away for a while getting over surgery, but from what she posted, i had nothing to worry about at all.

If its deliberate of course ban them to oblivion if you can, you should let the whole of ATS know you have done.

I just worry about the few, who have a mental illness, who are not in control of multiple personalities, i know it is not the fault of ATS, but if there is a personality like that here, knocking them off ATS is the worst thing that could happen, especially to those around them day in and day out.