Least Do It Right. — Astroturfing? At
Remember that the web is not anonymous.
The online world seems anonymous. Except it’s not.
That’s why I’d like to remind you to be careful when you think you’re anonymous. Or at least don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.
Two days ago I posted a story regarding Bridgepoint Education losing a UDRP case. It wasn’t a friendly post to the firm. Lots of people from Bridgepoint viewed the post. One of them decided to defend the firm in a comment using a generic email address and not identifying him/herself as an employee.
As any WordPress user knows, your IP address shows up right next to your other information in the administrative panel. This person used a generic email address but made the comment from his work computer network.
This isn’t the first time someone has tried astroturfing on Reglike. I often get multiple comments on a story under different names…and the same IP address. Or there was the guy trying to sell domains by responding to “another person’s” question regarding a particular domain. The response stated the person ought to buy the domain, but it was really from the same person who posted the query (and owned the domain).
Another example from a different blog: yesterday someone from iStockPhoto posted comments on a negative story over at ShoeMoney. He changed his name a couple times, but all comments pointed back to iStockPhoto.
On Reglike you’re allowed to use a handle instead of a name. I’m not going to disclose your identity*. But you must use a real email address and you can’t pretend to be unaffiliated with a firm you’re defending.
(*Your comment will be deleted if it contains a threat, even if it’s a joke. You’d be surprised how comments I delete for that reason.)
Rather than try to cover your tracks, I’d recommend this instead: don’t post something online if you’d be embarrassed if your identity came to light.
