Admin Forum:Advice sought: best practices with sock puppetry?

We've recently had some issues with a particular user both at w:c:tardis and our sister w:c:drwho.answers wiki. The admin teams at both wikis — which are different — both blocked the user. Now it appears he or she is attempting to come back, both through IP and alternate accounts.

I've already blocked the suspected IP, because it was so obviously the user in a different guise. An IP user just doesn't come on to a wiki in order to plead the case for another user. My finger's on the trigger regarding the new registered user, but I'm hesitating. If I do block, it will have to be for a much longer period of time than the current 1 month block. I note that wikipedia routinely do permanent bans on sock puppeteers — I assume because it's just such a waste of time.

Despite our age, we've never really encountered sock puppetry at our wiki, so if anyone has any thoughts as to the kind of evidence needed to "prove" sock puppetry, or the kinds of policies you might have in place on your wiki, I'd love to hear them. 23:28:47 Sat 10 Sep 2011


 * You should and ask for a check user on the new user and the old one. Staff will tell you if it is likely the same person or not. If it is, block. How long that is is up to you but I tend to do infinite blocks on sockpuppets of banned users.--
 * If you encounter multiple IPs close to each other, consider instigating a rangeblock. 13:29, September 13, 2011 (UTC)


 * You can contact a Check User if you want to know if the user or IP is the certain user. Also, the sockpuppeteer WILL get board of causing trouble to the wiki if you stop giving him attention.
 * -- 13:42, September 13, 2011 (UTC)