User:SHB2000/Sockpuppetry

Sockpuppetry is the improper use of multiple accounts to pose oneself as different users. On Wikivoyage, sockpuppetry is usually ignored unless it's proved to be disruptive. However, using sockpuppets to evade a block (i.e. block evasion) is disruptive and will result in an instant block for block evasion.

But how do you detect sockpuppetry? First off, you need to make sure that this is being used for disruptive purposes. Sockpuppetry is not, the use of multiple accounts; sockpuppetry is the improper use of multiple accounts. If wanted to use another account for test purposes, nothing is stopping SHB2000 from using  or indeed any other test account. If you want to let others be certain that the account was created by you, follow the steps in Special:CreateAccount whilst logged in. That way, it leaves a trace in the logs. Second off, nowhere does it say that a user cannot have a clean start. Whilst often done to avoid harassment and/or start fresh, recognizing past mistakes, in a wiki with fewer than 100 regular editors, it does go noticed. Nevertheless, nothing is stopping a user from a clean restart.

So, when is sockpuppetry disruptive then? Well, it gets tricky. Obvious cases are POV pushing, piggybacking or the most obvious one – block evasion.

What to do?
As the saying goes, if it walks like a duck and if it quacks like a duck, it's not a fox. Hypothetically, if a user is known to primarily edit Queensland articles and frequently known to use incorrect time and date formatting and another account that does the same, you can be pretty sure that they're the same user.