Meta: can mods identify burner accounts?
Wondering if there is a way, or a care, for mods or site owners to identify those people with burner accounts that are insta-replying to their own comments or mass downvoting posters.
For instance, there are a few new accounts that are mass downvoting one of our few insiders and putting him into defense mode. It's clear it's the same troll. The same account will post some rediculous take and immediately comment with "oh man, great point well done blah blah blah".
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:31 PM ^
No idea, but I always wanted to buy a burner cell phone and do creepy things with it...
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:37 PM ^
I think i speak for all of us when i say that’s no surprise
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:55 PM ^
Better call Saul
October 23rd, 2018 at 10:04 PM ^
Just bring Huell with you when you buy the burner cell phone
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:56 PM ^
....different from the "non-creepy" things you do to your regular cell phone???
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:08 PM ^
Pre-paid is the best way to go. Pay cash for the phone and pay cash for the minutes re-fills. Try not to purchase either where they have security cameras.
After that, Bob's your uncle.
A friend told me this stuff.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:08 PM ^
"If you're going to buy a burner phone, make sure it doesn't look anything like your work phone. Hoo boy."
-Hugh Freeze
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:11 PM ^
You don't have a burner phone? I thought everyone had one. No? Just me?
Nevermind
October 23rd, 2018 at 10:34 PM ^
Avatar checks out.
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:32 PM ^
1. Idk how they would be able to tell? That would be impossible unless they get IP data or something.
2. Can someone tell me how to upvote and downvote? I assumed that feature wasn't working or else I'd have like 100,000 points by now.
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:36 PM ^
IP data is what I was thinking and as a site owner, every request comes with an IP address, so in theory, it should be easy. Right?
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:13 PM ^
You can use Tor to hide your IP address. Some folks had to use it prior to ESPN going to FB logins when they were trolling the pedophile enabler apologists during the Paterno scandal.
A friend told me this
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:49 PM ^
Points aren't working and you can up or downvote if you have 100 points, so...we're kind of in this weird purgatory where we can pos and neg each other but it has nowhere the same psychological impact as if your points either go up, or down to oblivion.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:33 PM ^
I'm guessing the current threshold to upvote/downvote is 1000 points. At least I see a lot of posters between 100-1000 saying they can't.
In any case the OP is mistaken. New accounts aren't downvoting any posts, since they can't earn the points to get that ability.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:42 PM ^
...and yet I still care if I get upvoted. I know in my heart I've broken 10,000.
October 23rd, 2018 at 10:17 PM ^
Psychological impact? Wtf are you talking about?
Anyone who cares about points on this site has much bigger problems than psychological impact from a pos or neg vote.
October 23rd, 2018 at 11:10 PM ^
...says the guy with 335 points.
October 24th, 2018 at 12:28 AM ^
You’ve been here longer than I have. You’ve seen what happened to people who got negged to a pulp. I’m happy you’re above it but tell me why we have points at all if they mean nothing.
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:34 PM ^
Yes. Gets quite obvious on occasion. Also...needs to be said...WE LOVE YOU MODS. Tis a thankless job.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:13 PM ^
Negged for using "Tis"
October 23rd, 2018 at 11:18 PM ^
Probably should have had the apostrophe, 'tis, but I'm willing to let it slide.
MGoBlog should look more like Dickens and less like RCMB.
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:34 PM ^
oh man, great point well done blah blah blah
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:26 PM ^
Didn't you mean, "Oh man great point, well done" - blahblahblahh
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:19 PM ^
Username checks out
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:37 PM ^
I believe Seth has mentioned that they cannot ID burners. Also probably bigger fish to fry.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:04 PM ^
Yet it's been pretty obvious what these accounts are, and they tend to be around for a while, all the while being pointed out repeatedly, before they're finally banned. Then they start another one, and the cycle repeats.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:06 PM ^
I agree that it’s plainly obvious to those of us that are here often. But these boners tend to wear themselves out and leave. There’s always going to be some chaff.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:44 PM ^
Yes like these ads that pop up in the middle of peoples posts.
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:37 PM ^
This is the closest you'll get to a scientific answer.
So if a famous author has a burner account here he or she will be easily identifiable by plugging their comments into this system.
October 23rd, 2018 at 11:21 PM ^
FauxMo is going to turn out to be Stephanie Meyer. The Twilight books were all part of a long con to draw innocents over to the dark side...
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:40 PM ^
MGOBLOG is actually only like 5 very good looking people with a bunch of different names talking to each other.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:02 PM ^
I can't speak for the other four people, but thank you for the compliment.
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:40 PM ^
New accounts have to get to a certain point threshold before they can vote. The mods can see a page that shows the new accounts, and often block a new user if their first couple of posts are overly negative or causing disruption in a thread.
Umbig11 is legit, or at least I know who he is and why he has his access, and that he holds back much of what he hears. He's not going to be scared away by some skeptics.
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:42 PM ^
So how do I get to the point threshold to vote? Old users have to upvote my comments and then bam, once I hit 100 I see upvote and downvote buttons?
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:44 PM ^
There are no points.
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:50 PM ^
So long as Cloudfire hates points, there will be no points but for short periods when the interface is sleeping, and then site itself usually is mostly down during those same periods.
To answer the OP's question though, the answer is that I have no access to any of the data that would make that relatively simple.
October 23rd, 2018 at 11:23 PM ^
There is no Markinson.
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:49 PM ^
The points have worked twice in 3.0. They stopped working both times almost immediately after someone posted that they were back.
You'll be stuck at zero until the next time it gets fixed.
October 23rd, 2018 at 8:57 PM ^
I will take time to point out that it's good for me, as a moderator, if people still use the thumb. Even though points aren't working, I use the upvotes and downvotes when I analyze an account as part of my assessment. If every time you post you are getting 20 or 30 downvotes (sometimes more) then it is probably time for the poster to find a new site to troll.
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:50 PM ^
On the old site, 100 points, as I recall, was the threshold for being allowed to upvote and downvote and I was able to do both. On this new "improved"? site, I can neither upvote nor downvote. Can ANYONE explain to me why this is? Thanks in advance.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:09 PM ^
I don't have upvote/downvote buttons post upgrade. I've tried different browsers etc. I thought it was everyone having the issue but apparently some folks can indeed vote.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:33 PM ^
I'd like to know as well. I've been here for quite a while, don't really post much, but I don't have the ability to vote whatsoever. I can't even see who is getting upvoted or downvoted. I think I had about 300 MGOpoints before the changeover. I see a bunch of posts that are just absolute shit/asshole/fuckwad trolling, but I'm powerless to downvote. I see great post that I am, again, powerless to upvote. Can someone explain what I'm supposed to do here? Do I need to go on the posbang threads to get enough points to see votes? Because I'm not going to do that.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:49 PM ^
Points are not working on the new site. You have 325 points currently. If you go into a posbang thread and get a bunch of thumbs up votes, it will currently not affect your point total.
October 24th, 2018 at 6:58 AM ^
I don't have thumbs. Wish I did.
October 24th, 2018 at 8:45 PM ^
I don't even see these "thumbs" that you speak of. Where are they? I'm logged in.
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:53 PM ^
Thanks for the info. As a newer account I didn't realize that the point system was still working on the new site since I couldn't see any way to up/down posts and I've been stuck at 0 points. Do people actually use the point system? I come here every day but rarely post. I would feel strange trying to spam lots of posts just to get my point total up, especially since it is seemingly a system people rarely use anymore.
October 23rd, 2018 at 7:57 PM ^
The last time I saw a post from UMBig11 he said he wasn't going to post anything meaningful on here anymore. It sounded like he was fed up with petty detractors.
October 23rd, 2018 at 9:01 PM ^
But what about the IP address question? Do you have access and check different accounts with the same or similar IP addresses?
A few turds are starting to show up in our collective punch bowl.
October 23rd, 2018 at 11:27 PM ^
IP addresses are rarely particularly useful. Two different people can have the same IP address -- at the same time, if they're housemates sharing cable, or coworkers sharing a proxy server, for example, or at different times, as your IP address can cycle when you go off-line, particularly on mobile.
On the other hand, a troll can have many different IP addresses, either by using a remote proxy or just writing one set of messages from his laptop and the other from his phone (on 4G).