A Funny “Coincidence”

[Cristiano]

I removed the Vtuber account for spamming a bunch of users in DMs after having messaged them to stop doing so. When I remove someone, it compares the account to others with the same IP. Behold:



I knew something was off about them, but could not quite put my finger on it. One of them even complained I was bullying them for pointing out that the posts feel odd.

Maybe they were engagement farming to get content. Whatever the case, I am removing them all.

I did remove Vtuber’s thread and messages, but left the others since people here did respond.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

I really wanted to give the others the benefit of the doubt, but figures it would turn out this way.... lol.

 

[Cristiano]

I really wanted to give the others the benefit of the doubt, but figures it would turn out this way.... lol.

Same. I took a hands off approach mostly. I wasn’t surprised by the end result. When I went to ban one of them, I noticed all three had posted in a thread, one after another. It is strange. I am sure we will see more of it. I won’t be so willing to give a benefit of the doubt the next time.

 

[Free]

At least we won't have to deal with Emile Zola storming into the forums posting "J'accuse...!" about all this.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Same. I took a hands off approach mostly. I wasn’t surprised by the end result. When I went to ban one of them, I noticed all three had posted in a thread, one after another. It is strange. I am sure we will see more of it. I won’t be so willing to give a benefit of the doubt the next time.

I don't know if you really need to change your approach Cris. Their posts may have felt off, but it's not like they caused any real trouble until the one account started IM-spamming, and that was the right time to do something. I don't think your giving them the benefit of the doubt caused a problem.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

I don't know if you really need to change your approach Cris. Their posts may have felt off, but it's not like they caused any real trouble until the one account started IM-spamming, and that was the right time to do something. I don't think your giving them the benefit of the doubt caused a problem.

I agree. I'd love for this forum to attract more new blood that we can welcome with open arms. Unfortunately that does involve taking a little bit of risk with trolls. Sometimes the risk will pay off and sometimes it won't. I support giving people the benefit of the doubt until they prove otherwise.

 

[Cristiano]

I agree. I'd love for this forum to attract more new blood that we can welcome with open arms. Unfortunately that does involve taking a little bit of risk with trolls. Sometimes the risk will pay off and sometimes it won't. I support giving people the benefit of the doubt until they prove otherwise.

I wasn’t referring to that. I was referring to not trusting my own instincts that it felt fake, and too coincidental when several appeared with the same style.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

I wasn’t referring to that. I was referring to not trusting my own instincts that it felt fake, and too coincidental when several appeared with the same style.

I understand what you mean! I was just speaking in general terms. Not just in regards to these few.

 

[Free]

I wasn’t referring to that. I was referring to not trusting my own instincts that it felt fake, and too coincidental when several appeared with the same style.

We could all tell something was askew, but the postings weren't off-balanced enough to warrant anything like a banhammer. So we kept watch... (Not that we had to. The weasel has to pop at some time; it's what it does.)

 

[Cristiano]

I understand what you mean! I was just speaking in general terms. Not just in regards to these few.

Yes, I agree. I have always operated that way with people here. I generally give them enough rope to hang themselves if they seem to be trolling, and hope always that otherwise we are gaining a new person. With them it was harmless, but I guess the fact that it felt inauthentic even as people responded in good faith is what bugged me. The value of this community has always been its authenticity.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

With them it was harmless, but I guess the fact that it felt inauthentic even as people responded in good faith is what bugged me.

I remember that time Psyke had a huge flameout in SLU, I forget the details but he did some bullshit posting some sort of falsehood and when called on it claimed “It was just an experiment.” Which did him no good anyway because people were even more mad now that they were unilaterally opted into his little head game.

These sorts of multi accounts from the same source share some of that energy; they’re a form of manipulation that isn’t honest about its purpose, intents, etc.

I’m probably phrasing it poorly, but I can say it’s a familiar bad taste in the mouth whether it’s one person abusing trust with one account, or several.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

I really wanted to give the others the benefit of the doubt, but figures it would turn out this way.... lol.

The hand tips sooner or later.