Heh heh heh, sock puppet. That term just cracks me up.
I read different websites and usually see a lot of people commenting just to see their screen name. A lot of "first, second" comments. I do think that with more people becoming aware of your site, you'll find more inane and rude comments. Which sucks. Glad for the publicity, but hate the immaturity. 
I most certainly understand -- without a doubt!!
Steve, I always love it when you open a big 'ol can on those who deserve it! One of the things that makes your site unique is the general sense of respect for opinions. They don't have to agree, but the discussion is usually mature and respectful. That hasn't been the situation lately with some of the cases. I think the emotional and sometimes irrational discussion that has been occuring has been very pertinent to the cases involved, because I think the discussion has been reflective of the lives that the suspects have lived. Many of the posters have been in complete denial regarding the involvement of their friend. That in itself, is not unusual. The tone of this denial is what I have found fascinting. There has been a level of anger in their denial which is unique and bothersome. Many of the posters seem desperate for us to believe them.....even if that means ignoring evidence and facts. The irrational expectations in the face of rational discussion is like a preview into the mindset that allows someone to think they can commit heinous crimes, and just be excused from punishment. Some of these people seem incapable of grasping the magnitude and the seriousness of the crimes. There seems to be a complete lack of empathy for the victim and a complete trust in the suspects. Many of these people seem to have lost their ability to discern reality from the fantasy worlds they have created with their music, videos, and MySpace personas.
...Steve - thank you for all you do - I'm sorry you have to waste your time moderating - I read here everyday -I don't post as often as I would like cuz I will be 79 in feb. and my brain does not always get up when I do, sometimes I think it doesn't get up at all - it is so frustrating - there are always posters who I agree with and they say exactly what I would say but they do it so much better and I thank them for that -
Yikes! The trolls do seem to be frolicing a lot lately, don't they? I'm sorry you've been so pestered.
Sock puppets?
Okay. I'm not up on Internet slang. What's a sock puppet?
Chris, this is from Wikipedia:
"In its earliest usage, a sockpuppet was a false identity through which a member of an Internet community speaks while pretending not to, like a puppeteer manipulating a hand puppet.
"In current usage, the perception of the term has been extended beyond second identities of people who already post in a forum to include other uses of misleading online identities."
Hope that explains it.
Steve,
I'm sorry you have waste your time moderating but thank you! With the trolls and nasty comments it has gotten sort of ugly out here.
Good call Steve!
See, ya don't have much of mine to review.
Steve,
Thank you for the wonderful site! I am sorry you are having a problem with the "sock puppets!" I have never heard that term, but it just makes me laugh.
Thank you for all the hard work you do, I know you spend a great deal of time to bring us the "inside" scoop. I am just sorry a few ruins it for you!
Keep up the great work, I really enjoy reading here, even if I don't comment much!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
i had never heard of a sock puppet before!!! (well not in that sense anyway lol) you learn something new every day
Reannan wrote:
"The irrational expectations in the face of rational discussion is like a preview into the mindset that allows someone to think they can commit heinous crimes, and just be excused from punishment."
See? This is one of the things I really like about the comments on Steve's blog. Every once in a while, you come across a great sentence. G
Good one, Reannan!
pdx-I would be interested in hearing from you more often. Once you get the hang of posting, you won't be able to stop. I am not a good typist but I do it anyway. Speak up more often, okay?
Steve- Thank you for insisting on civility while we are "guests in your home". People need to learn some manners.
Thanks for not dumping the comments completely. I am sure it is no fun for you, having to sort the acceptable from the offensive. I wouldn't want it on my blog...if I had a blog.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and Dana and to your family!
(TGIRecovered)
All, I should correct something -- I didn't enforce moderation because I was having anything "ruined" for me. Believe me, if rude commentators "ruined" this endeavor for me, I would have said "screw blogging" before I even made my first crime blog.
No, in certain threads I had the feeling that the assholes were shouting down the smart people who actually might have something to say. I wanted them to have a chance, no matter their point-of-view.
As a joke, I have often had this as my e-mail sig: "Discourtesy is unspeakably ugly to me." It's a quote from Hannibal Lecter, and funny in context, of course... but it's really pretty true for me. I loathe incivility and rudeness. I have to be extraordinarily pissed to be rude, myself. Maybe it's a southern thing, I don't know. But giving thoughtful people a chance to be "heard" and an epidemic of idiotic, offensive behavior made me do this.
I'll drop the moderation again soon, but I'll tell you this -- I won't announce it when I do.
I know there's some folks on the Web who think it is their God-given right to hide behind anonymous screen names and be libelous, slanderous, and just nasty, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm going to have a little say over that sort of thing on a site I run.
Steve
Steve,
Thanks for your blog. I am glad your are not allowing a bunch of inconsiderate sock puppets (thanks for clearing the definition up for me) ruin a great blog for the rest of us. Your tenacity for getting to the bottom of a story is much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Lori
sock puppets and all it's been pretty darn compelling (sorry for the overused word)- Really well said Reannan i agree and when the smoke clears i think we def will have gained some insight, depressing as it may be - speaking of depressing i wish the police would give us an update on Jodi Parrack case already
You don't know them. Just because they're sock puppets doesn't mean they are not a good person. Judge not lest ye be judged, and what about innocent until proven guilty? You don't know them and you weren't there, so what gives you the right to think you have the right to have an opinion about any of this anyway? Because it's none of your business anyway even if they are a sock puppet. Only LE would know if they are a sock puppet anyway. How could you know anything anyway, you weren't there and you don't know what LE knows. (*sarcasm off*)
I was in the hospital since last week, and I missed all the fun.
ha ha Mike . . . that was good. You had me going there for a minute. I've seen your posts before and this one made me think someone was using your name as a . . . sockpuppet.
p.s. Mike . . . hope you're feeling better.
Discourtesy IS unspeakably ugly!
More Sock Monkeys, less Sock Puppets!
THANK YOU STEVE! I just knew you were on another task during the desintegration on the thrill kill story! YOU DA MAN. Okay...did nurse pass the mod test yet? if not I am sure that my sarcastic tongue got sucked into the troll crap....I tried to be good (to the best of my ability). Soobs, Melissa, Reannan and a few other regulars tried to redirect the ugliness but it seemed to keep pouring in. It seriously was getting to be like cat crap in a sand box! (ie, no matter what you do....you can cover it, rake it, and spray it with a hose but cats will still find a way to crap there).
Okay..that was a bad analogy but I iam a pisces damnit and I am very visual LOL.
OH DANG! sTEVE! DID YOU JUST SEE THAT SHADOW PERSON ATTACK THE MACDONALD'S LADY? I guess he didn't know that the fries had 500 calories until after he had already eaten three of them....dang shadow people....
On the converse side of this.....I want to see you blog and dig into that rape case in your state of Georgia... Not only is Georgia our "home base" in the army as an officer signal corps family going on 16 years... but we FELL IN LOVE WITH IT....:Fort Gordon and "disgusta"...(we call it that just in jest lol). That song, 'georgia on my mind' is says it best.
Not that my love of GA has anything at all to do with the arrest of eight and nine years olds raping an 11 year old girl.....but knowing georgia and knowing the sweet people that live there I just am finding this really bizarre and want to hear your take on this.
If anyone can find out the truth it is you, Steve~O...
oh...and Steve~O...
I didn't even check yet to see if you had ALREADY posted on that case that I previously mentioned...
MY BAD...
I promise to be a good little blogmentor next time and check before I open my yapper (of the keyboard kind).
o.O
thanks for the definition, Steve. Wow. I have a hard enough time managing ONE identity. I could see this happening on, say, some site trying to push goods or services or products...but on a crime blog??
Some folks just have way too much time on their hands.
Steve,
Any comments on the Natalie Halloway-related rearrest of the Jordan van der Sloot and the two Aruban men?
Nurse is in 'da house! We need to get credentialed or something and take care of many cases....starting with this rape case in Georgia. For any newbies who aren't following true crime like the rest of us - we are talking about the case where an 11 year old girl was allegedly raped by a 9 year old accompanied by another 9 year old and an 8 year old. Steve hasn't blogged on it yet, maybe because it is predictable how it is going to turn out - not at all how it appears.
"Discourtesy is unspeakably ugly to me." ~ just classic (even though Lector was creeeepy x 1,000), but I would not expect ANYTHING less from you! Your site is awesome, and, seriously, I don't know what I would do if I "had" to miss my daily dose!
Seriously, your hard work means so much to so many ~ damn, I do believe you are larger than a rock star, or at least in this house ! You do what you do, and always do what you say ~ IT'S APPRECIATED!!!
HAPPY TURKEY DAY and many blessings to you Mr. Huff, and everyone else here.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Things are beginning to turn black again in FoxyKnoxy's thread.
I don't know why 4 or 5 posters are so concerned by coyotewaits. Why not just ignore him? Why people have to harass, press, try to humiliate him? You rightly banned some IPs of posting, now I want to know what will you do with the members who are attacking CW.
Thanks.
Hi Steve,
Just so you can compare IP address of chikita and me here as well as on the Kercher thread I am going to add my comment here and not bother you with an email. Yes the sock puppets are at it again as is the Mr. rob, pack leader. However, this time the accusations include this.
"Most of us on this thread, Coyote, realised a long time ago that your second name is Chikita Bakana. You're just one person from Chicago checking in under two names. AndyT | 11.19.07 - 11:39 am # bye bye" rob | 11.23.07 - 7:38 pm #
http://www.haloscan.com/comments.../?
a=22706#46984
of, course he didn't go bye, bye. (XXXXx has fingered/traceroute my ISP, my firewall blocking his attempt to hack me).
I urge you to review the very first few posts (comments) that rob made on the Kercher case which start with his bashing of Joanne's very first post at at 10.08.07 4:43 PM long before I even joined the Meredith Kercher comments thread
http://www.haloscan.com/comments.../?
a=22706#31803
and then continues to do so for several following posts, where he bashes and flames her for posting untrue statements, demands she correct them, do her homework first, and then insults her. This is even below normal ad hominem arguments. This is his same pattern taken along with todger and AndyT and a couple others against yours truly and Chikata, in his latest outburst starting at rob | 11.23.07 - 4:04 pm
http://www.haloscan.com/comments.../?
a=22706#46852
followed by AndyT, todger and even Mike Hunt getting in the act.
Unfortunately this time it even exceeded my tolerance level to ignore them and scroll through their posts, so I confronted rod in as civil of manner as I could, given my disdain for his personal behavior throughout this thread. The results speak for themselves.
Should you be interested in data to focus any log search for sock puppets, I have logged the name, date & time stamps of several different user names' posts that reflect suspected sock puppeting and flaming and will forward them to you by email upon request.
http://tinyurl.com/2ap2eg
Link for murder suicide in park.
There are those who think they have a right to spew any manner of crap, just because they dropped by. Often times they will taunt, "I dare you to approve my post." (WTF is that type of drama all about?)
It's your site Steve, you get to do what you want. I applaud your stance on comment moderation and keeping crap off of your own blog. It makes the place more enjoyable for your loyal readers.
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