Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/GhostlyOperative/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets
Similar editing pattern, similar contributions, and similar word choices in the edit summary and talk pages


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Similar disruptive behaviour in Generation Z, resorts to reverting revisions, personal attacks and accusations in the edit summaries and talk pages instead of civil discussions following basic etiquette (WP:Civil). Ignores the established talk page consensus (continuation).


 * & &  &  &  Agrso (talk) 00:40, 4 May 2022 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''
 * I would like to bring attention to 2021-08-31, when comparing GhostlyOperative's and Zillennial's edit histories, you find them editing Generation Z at the same time on similar subjects: they both make edits about date ranges within minutes of each other, and at 11:45, GhostlyOperative includes information about zillennials (the cohort, not the user), which is suspicious to say the least. ~BappleBusiness[talk] 02:42, 4 May 2022 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * The two accounts do exhibit a number of similarities in terms of editing style; I've run a check however, and based on what information I can see (noting that Zillennial has not edited much within the last three months so there is not a lot of CU data to go on), I am not persuaded that they are the same person. I make no comment about this specific IP, but I do note, that GhostlyOperative has a habit of editing while logged out, on pages that they have edited and/or on the talk pages of people they are in dispute with. I will warn them that this must stop.  Girth Summit  (blether)  16:21, 7 May 2022 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets
On https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:GhostlyOperative admin on December 9 announced an indefinite ban for sock puppetry. On December 10 user FallSpookyLeaves joins. They have the same editing pattern of jumping straight into the Generation Z article which can be seen here https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generation_Z&action=history. This user straight out did an identical edit to one of GhostlyOperative’s socks WaterIguana, compare https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generation_Z&diff=1129208491&oldid=1129068224 and https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generation_Z&diff=1126238044&oldid=1126237630. It’s highly unlikely that a user that joined one day after another was banned does this very same edit that no one else have done before. Especially when there was an ongoing dispute and barely anyone else has edited the page since a consensus was reached. Wikiboo02 (talk) 08:14, 24 December 2022 (UTC)

Comments by other users

 * Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * ✅. Blocked, tagged, closing.  firefly  ( t · c ) 10:46, 24 December 2022 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets
I want to bring your attention to another account. After admin announced a ban on GhostlyOperative’s page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:GhostlyOperative on December 9,, who was blocked yesterday as a comfirmed sock, and RRTortuga joined one day after on December 10. They have a habit of jumping straight into editing the Generation Z article but they also edit other pages in common. Compare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/FallLeavesSpooky and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/RRTortuga. RRTortuga started editing the Generation Z article on December 25 one day after tried to edit the same article but was blocked. They edited the same sentences, please compare https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generation_Z&diff=prev&oldid=1129402092 with https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generation_Z&diff=1129208491&oldid=1129068224 on line 122 and 132. was blocked for creating multiple accounts during a dispute and once the dispute was settled they have tried to edit the article with more socks. Wikiboo02 (talk) 09:47, 25 December 2022 (UTC)

Comments by other users

 * Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * ., closing. Mz7 (talk) 17:47, 26 December 2022 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets
Compare https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Zillennial&diff=prev&oldid=1146334433 to https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generation_Z&diff=prev&oldid=1129402092 and https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generation_Z&diff=1129208491&oldid=1129068224. Edits the Morelia article here https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Morelia&diff=prev&oldid=1137405975 which RRTortuga (another confirmed alt of GhostlyOperative) also edited https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Morelia&diff=prev&oldid=1129400708. This user also has a habit of creating alts to complain on Zillennial's talk page such as https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Zillennial&diff=prev&oldid=1146334433, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Zillennial&diff=prev&oldid=1126296434, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Zillennial&diff=prev&oldid=1124433693 and https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Zillennial&diff=prev&oldid=1126241071 to name a few. Suspicious because only this user was obsessed with removing that piece from the Generation Z article, only this user has a habit of complaining on Zillennial's talk page and the Morelia article edit can't be a coincidence. Wikiboo02 (talk) 00:22, 26 March 2023 (UTC)

Comments by other users

 * Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * - for all but current account. --  Amanda (she/her)  20:48, 26 March 2023 (UTC)
 * I came across this via Sockpuppet investigations/RedSnowma; RedSnowma is ✅ to, and has also created . Blocking and tagging accordingly.  Girth Summit  (blether)  15:14, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets

 * ( originally filed under this user)

Check out the following diffs in chronological order: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Zillennial&diff=prev&oldid=1146334433, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Zillennial&diff=prev&oldid=1146634143, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Zillennial&diff=prev&oldid=1146636091, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Zillennial&diff=prev&oldid=1146640679 and https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Zillennial&diff=prev&oldid=1147033763.

Now compare them to: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generation_Z&diff=prev&oldid=1129402092 and https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generation_Z&diff=prev&oldid=1129208491.

Made by RRTortuga and FallLeavesSpooky, confirmed alts of GhostlyOperative, where they try to discretely and silently remove a part from the Generation Z article. Which is exactly what they say here https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Zillennial&diff=prev&oldid=1146636091.

It's a clear case of WP:DUCK. Wikiboo02 (talk) 21:19, 28 March 2023 (UTC)

Comments by other users

 * Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * - WP:LOUTSOCKing: . Please, indef the account, and block 2601:940:C180:3DB0::/64 for, at least, one week. Thank you. MarioGom (talk) 16:31, 7 April 2023 (UTC)
 * - I've blocked the IP range per your request, but please see my comments at Sockpuppet investigations/GhostlyOperative. These cases will need merging... Girth Summit  (blether)  15:16, 8 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Ok. Merged and closed. MarioGom (talk) 15:22, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets
This account was created a few days after yet another one of GhostlyOperative's alts RedSnowma was blocked by for sockpuppeting. Here's some evidence:

WXOjo edits generation pages with similar motives and comments as GhostlyOperative's alts. Check this https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generation_Alpha&diff=prev&oldid=1149471960&diffmode=source and compare it to https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generation_Alpha&diff=prev&oldid=1146650226&diffmode=source. WXOjo removes generation ranges that start Gen Z before 1997 and tries to hide it by not stating it in comments such as https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generation&diff=prev&oldid=1149466509&diffmode=source compare to RedSnowma saying that these things should be removed discreetly here https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk%3AZillennial&diff=prev&oldid=1146634143&diffmode=source. Compare the overall editing pattern of GhostlyOperative https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions/GhostlyOperative&target=GhostlyOperative&offset=20221112014710 to WXOjo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/WXOjo They make lots of edits at once with verbose summaries in addition to adding commas and fixing grammar. Both are obsessed with promoting sources that end Millennials in 1996. No other editor ever seem this obsessed with adding and guarding sources on generation article all the time therefore I strongly suspect that they're the same.

The editor interaction utility also shows that the only other pages that WXOjo has edited Emperor and Tlatoani have both been edited by GhostlyOperative before. Wikiboo02 (talk) 12:59, 15 April 2023 (UTC)

Comments by other users

 * Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * - is ✅to . Blocked and tagged, but there's some other funny stuff going on on their range, still investigating.   Girth Summit  (blether)  15:54, 15 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Meh, the other stuff might be nothing, and I don't think it's them. Closing.  Girth Summit  (blether)  15:58, 15 April 2023 (UTC)
 * User:Girth Summit, there is so much on the big /40 range, a range that blocked. It overlaps with Sockpuppet investigations/Knowledge Updater 1999, but it's too big and too late for me. Drmies (talk) 03:02, 19 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Hey - I see the overlap in IP range with the  account. Probably just a coincidence though, I think, the behaviour is quite different. Knowledge Updater looks like a corporate spam account; GhostlyOperative has some sort of fixation with the names of particular generations (I didn't even really know that was a thing) and the dates that they span.  Girth Summit  (blether)  08:56, 19 April 2023 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets
A new account that appeared less than one week after blocked WXOjo, an alt of GhostlyOperative. Jumps straight into editing articles about Generation Z. Similar pattern where they write on user Zillennial's talk page. Probably because GhostlyOperative was blocked after they were caught using multiple accounts in a dispute concerning the Generation Z article so they're trying to get this other user to implement changes on behalf of them. The page history confirms https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Zillennial&action=history that GhostlyOperative's alts appear multiple times such as RedSnowma, BlueDemon0 and WaterIguana as well as IP addresses that probably belongs to them. Similar to the previous confirmed alts, the user has a "source" obession for sources that confirm their beliefs about what years certain generations should span. I request that this user's edits are reverted as they continue creating alts to make disruptive edits. Wikiboo02 (talk) 10:41, 2 May 2023 (UTC)

Comments by other users

 * Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * ✅, and ducky - blocked. Don't see any others.  Girth Summit  (blether)  12:05, 2 May 2023 (UTC)