The Sockpuppeting Problem

Staff of this site have multiple alt accounts with moderation powers they use to avoid criticism and make it confusing, if not impossible, to tell who said what when looking at the post history of mods and admins. As with Joey and Blossomforth or with Luna and Princess Celestia. Use one account and stick to it. Don’t make a new account just because you said something people didn’t like.

@Background Pony #4485
 
Are you simply unaware of the situation with “Luna and Princess Celestia”, or unwilling to understand what was explained already?
 
There’s no sockpuppeting going on there. No hiding behind new accounts. The reason was very simple.
 
Here are the links to comments, which explain it:
 
here
 
and here

Few staff have ever had alts, and those that have, most just have a ‘staff’ account and a ‘normal’ account.
 
I for one have a non-staff alt that I only used a few times to upload Limestone Pie images and very minimal roleplay. Otherwise I’ve done everything on this account and never swapped it or changed names since becomming staff.

@LightningBolt  
You know we can see the logs right. Why are you lying about other staff when it’s so easy to tell that you are?

@Background Pony #BC3A
 
I’ve said this myself to others: I’d love to see those logs. Please provide references for your claims.

>inb4 ban

@AppleDash  

 
Not that anon, but I just messaged you a copy of the log. Users have been banned for distributing it, but I figure as a site moderator if you’re asking for it then a ban won’t be handed down.

Sorry, to clarify: I know the logs exist and I know what’s contained in them. I’d like specific references supporting this particular claim, because I haven’t seen anybody provide such references so far.

@AppleDash  
idk personally, trying to find it myself. The fact so many mods/admins here using different names than they do on the Discord makes it a little more difficult since I don’t lurk there enough to figure out who is who.  
So I don’t know what LightningBolt’s user name is there (though from context I have a couple guesses).

@Corpulent Brony
 
That is certainly one possible source of confusion; staff having different names on Discord vs on site. I’m not sure if you’ve even figured out who I am yet.

@AppleDash  
Nope! That isn’t the source of confusion, because when we have joey and blossomforth, ciaran and derpy whooves, that’s already two. Wonder if there are any more that staff is hush hush about?

@AppleDash  
Calling open users to violate rule 8 is baiting. Posting the logs has resulted in post deletions and bans. The logs are easily found in multiple places at this point without encouraging users to break the rules, so easily that for you to be asking for them is disingenuous and in bad faith.

@Background Pony #BC3A
 
My apologies; I didn’t intend to “bait” anyone into violating any rules. That is why I asked for references, and not quotes. Timestamps would have sufficed.

@AppleDash  
Now that you’ve gotten a slew of them that show multiple staff doing it, what now?

@Background Pony #BC3A
 
To quote my reply from 4chan:
 

@AppleDash  
No no no, you came into the thread as a moderator and said “I’d love to see those logs. Please provide references for your claims.” What were you going to do if no proof had been provided? Since proof WAS provided, your intentions are to just say “Oh yeah well I knew all about THOSE secret staff accounts already, everything is fine”?

@Background Pony #BC3A
 
Not entirely sure what part of my post wasn’t clear. It was to be taken at face value: “I’d love to see them.” I’ve seen them, now I’m satisfied that threads of this nature have some truth to them. I’m not into arguing about it, because it usually goes nowhere.

@AppleDash  
Uh huh. You know that having a moderator tag puts weight behind your posts, right? If you were just going to end up posting on 4chan with a tripcode anyway to ask for the same information (and using yet another name), why didn’t you ask with a background pony or with a non-mod alt? Demanding proof of claims as a moderator carries a heavily implied threat of action.

@Background Pony #BC3A  
To be fair, if it was a non mod account, he wouldn’t have gotten shit on this site because it would have been marked rule 8.

@Background Pony #BC3A
 
I consider it dishonest to post anonymously on a mod account, and I’m decently sure it is frowned upon amongst staff anyways. I’m not sure why the mere fact that I am a mod is a “threat of action”. I also didn’t demand anything. I simply said, and I quote for the second time, “I’d love to see those logs.” It was a personal request that nobody had to fulfill. I’m thankful that somebody did, but it was not a requirement, and I’m sorry if it seemed that way.
 
I asked for the same information on 4chan because not everyone on 4chan is in this thread, and not everyone reading this thread is on 4chan.
 
It’s no secret that my posts on 4chan are me; I even posted proof, and for some reason people didn’t believe it. The point of the trip is to prove that it’s the same “me” across posts. I use that name there because I use it on Discord, which is where I mainly interact with the /mlp/ community outside of /mlp/.

@Background Pony #BC3A  
Then tell me who is ‘lying’ and who is ‘hiding’ please instead of calling accusations.
 
My Discord name is WiFiWitch and it always had been. My display name may change but my username never has.

Sockpuppeting assumes the person is trying to make it appear like they’re not themselves. I don’t understand how my case is sockpuppeting, since I never hid it from day 0 that I am now using this account instead of my main personal one in order to avoid confusion.

@Princess Celestia
 
hello why are there three lightningbolts on the staff page

@Princess Celestia
 
look up. ur mods are makign themselves not appear as they are.

@Background Pony #7B70  
I believe the mods are trying to make some sort of a joke by having everyone be LightningBolt. I personally have no involvement and it’s not like I can tell them to stop it.