Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Cheng.958/Archive

16 December 2015

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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I previously speedily deleted a version of Olentangy Commons at Upper Point and Olentangy Commons due to multiple copyright violations. There are three news accounts adding content to Neighborhoods in Columbus, Ohio and related articles, User:Wang.4127, User:Cheng.958 and User:Dettra.12. Aside from copy-and-paste problems, the content seems promotional. The usernames have obvious similarities, and Cheng has edited Wang's sandbox multiple times. I asked if they were connected, but they did not reply. Another account, Dettra, then repurposed the disambiguation page Easton as a content fork of Easton Town Center (a shopping centre). This elevation of a commercial development into a neighborhood is a similar MO to Cheng and Wang with Olentangy Commons, which is an apartment block not a neighbourhood. Fences &amp;  Windows  21:07, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Comments by other users
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 * I've signed up as a volunteer but for the most part I've had little true interaction with them. I do know that the group is supposed to have meetups where they edit Wikipedia, so it's entirely likely that these are some people who signed up at one such meeting. Cheng.958 and Dettra.12 signed up on the same day within about a half hour of each other, which could further back this up if you have someone who is walking them through things one on one. Wang.4127 signed up on the 10th, however, which puts a potential crimp in that idea. However the other alternative is that these may be students that are taking part in a class that incorporates Wikipedia editing, which which could explain the shared topics and the difference in signup times. I do kind of get a student vibe from this because while the pages are promotional, they seem somewhat unintentionally so - something that is fairly common with student articles because they're used to writing in a certain way. SuperHamster would be able to give you a better answer than I, since he's on the campus and would know these editors if they're part of his group or as the guy in charge of the WP, would be likely to know if any teachers at his school were using Wikipedia in a class. Tokyogirl79 (｡◕‿◕｡)  11:45, 20 December 2015 (UTC)
 * I'd say that since there is a good chance that they're students, that we approach this carefully. If they are to be blocked, then they need to be made aware of what they could do to get unblocked, namely each of them e-mail OTRS from their student accounts to show that they're not the same person. If it's part of a class, then we could probably ask for their teacher's e-mail so we could send him or her information about the education WP for future semesters. Tokyogirl79 (｡◕‿◕｡)  11:47, 20 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks for pinging me. I know for sure that these users aren't related to Wikipedia Connection; right now we're pretty small, and I know all editors that attend our weekly workshop personally. What I can say is that at OSU, usernames follow the form lastname.#, which tells me that these are all Ohio State students. These are all also active students, so I'd guess they'e editing as part of a class. Unfortunately I'm unaware of any classes going on with Wikipedia as part of a coursework. We did have one class back in 2014 that dealt with editing articles on Columbus neighborhoods; I'll contact that course's teacher and a couple of students and ask what class these editors might be a part of. ~ Super  Hamster  Talk Contribs 13:13, 20 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Update: I'm in contact with the teacher, who told me the students were a part of his class. A course page was never made due to lack of time. I'll talk to the teacher to see what can be improved in the future to avoid problems like this. ~ Super  Hamster  Talk Contribs 22:56, 23 December 2015 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * or at least meat puppetry. No sleepers seem immediately apparent so might be able to resolve this with simply WP:DUCK. Mkdw talk 20:24, 19 December 2015 (UTC)
 * CheckUser note: Those three accounts are ✅ and there are heaps more which match the pattern. However, I think these are students related to Education Program:Ohio State University/Wikipedia Connection (Fall 2015), or that it's socking stemming from that. and  might be able to give us some more information. Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 11:18, 20 December 2015 (UTC)
 * - I'm placing this case on hold until finds out what's going on.  Vanjagenije   (talk)  10:52, 21 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Closing the case without action.  Vanjagenije  (talk)  23:00, 23 December 2015 (UTC)