Glossary: Sockpuppet
Launch library · evergreen read
A sockpuppet is an online identity created by someone who already has an established presence elsewhere under their own name, used to support their own views, argue on their own behalf while appearing anonymous, or create an artificial impression of independent agreement where none genuinely exists among real, unconnected people reading the same discussion.
The term itself borrows from the idea of a hand puppet, an outward appearance controlled entirely from behind the scenes by someone whose real identity remains carefully hidden from view throughout the entire interaction taking place in public, out of sight of anyone reading along at the time.
Sockpuppets are typically identified through behavioural overlap with the controlling account behind them, shared phrasing used repeatedly, overlapping timing between posts, similar underlying interests, rather than through anything the fabricated identity itself ever openly and directly reveals to any observers watching closely in from outside the account itself.