Sock Puppet
Additionally, fake online identities are used for the purposes of deception and Psychological Manipulation to spread disinformation and propaganda messages throughout various social networks and online communities. This is referred to as a ‘Sock Puppet’, a person pretending to be another person that assumes this false identity in order to infiltrate or manipulate others in an online community. A Strawman Sock Puppet is used by covert agendas to troll online communities, to make a particular point of view appear crazy in order to discredit the discussions and generate as much chaos and disruption as possible in the group. Similar to an online troll, the sock puppet’s motivation is to spread fear, uncertainly and doubt within the group in order to divide and conquer. It is important to realize that sock puppets are considered a legitimate vocation, hackers are hired and paid well to perform this role. They get paid to intentionally deceive others online, write phony complaints or spread offensive language and ideas in order to kill off the business competition.[1]
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