Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Martinthewriter/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets



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These two accounts have consistently taken each other's side in the ongoing dispute between "them" and pretty much everyone else on Talk:Mottainai. Both claim on their user pages to have an "advanced" level of Japanese proficiency, which seems oddly coincidental given that both have also demonstrated a fairly thorough lack of awareness of even basic Japanese vocabulary on a number of occasions. (This is difficult to prove with diffs, but basically the whole dispute revolves around them not knowing what the common Japanese adjective mottainai means, and relying on English-language popular media for their information while apparently being unable to read the Japanese scholarship cited in the discussion.) The fact that the Martinthewriter account added this claim one day before the IvoryTower123 account was created is somewhat suspicious, and the fact that Martinthewriter responded in IvoryTower123's stead when I filed an ANI report on the latter, while the latter has gone curiously silent, clinched it for me that something was up. Worst of all, it would be a shocking coincidence if both of them spontaneously found their way to that very obscure article within two days of each other in November 2019, before anyone was talking about it.

It's entirely possible, given that both are fairly new, relatively inactive, accounts, that both of them are socks of someone else, such as JoshuSasori (who hates me and has apparently never stopped socking over the course of more than seven years) or CurtisNaito (who has a very similar rhetorical style and editing patterns), but the evidence that the two are at least connected to each other seems very strong. I'm requesting CU confirm that, and also to see if any of the other suspicious new accounts that have shown up on the page in the last two weeks is also connected, as well as potentially the real sockmaster (who, if he/she is in fact one of the editors who were active on the mottainai talk page in February 2018, is still active, and at least one of those has a history of "good hand, bad hand" sockpuppetry).

Hijiri 88 ( 聖やや ) 02:21, 16 March 2020 (UTC)
 * They "disagree with the filer" -- and everyone else who speaks Japanese. They both chose to spontaneously lie about having the same level of Japanese proficiency, several months before their first direct interaction with each other? Hijiri 88 ( 聖やや ) 14:01, 28 March 2020 (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

 * - There's a lot going on here, but first let's clarify the obvious: at first this SPI looks like a grudgepost but the suspicions are pointed in the right direction. My suspicion is that the account is being used by one person, and the other person has a possibility of being Martinthewriter. In particular, see this. From 11 November, the account starts making edits from the desktop (not the usual app edits) in the same area that Martin was editing at that period. The pattern is repeated here at Talk:Mottainai. This makes me pretty sure about my notion. qedk (t 心 c) 20:59, 27 March 2020 (UTC)
 * I believe your first instinct was correct, and I don't see a justification for a check or any sanctions for that matter. For the time being, I will not decline the endorsement or close the report without action, but I may do so at a future point if nothing further happens.--Bbb23 (talk) 21:31, 27 March 2020 (UTC)
 * But, you do see my point? Always edits on the phone but suddenly edits on a desktop when intersecting with Martin? Twice, in fact, and both times it was when Martin was also in this area. --qedk (t 心 c) 05:24, 28 March 2020 (UTC)
 * The two editors intersect only on that Talk page. IvoryTower made a grand total of 5 edits to that Talk page, 3 in November 2019, and 2 in March 2020. The three edits in 2019 were not tagged as a mobile device. One of the March ones wasn't and the other one was. Martin's edits are never tagged as a mobile device. A large number of Martin's edits are tagged as minor. IvoryTower doesn't appear to tag their edits as minor at all. I don't see enough evidence to do anything here. Two editors agree with each other in one area and disagree with the filer. That's all we've got.--Bbb23 (talk) 13:56, 28 March 2020 (UTC)


 * Based on my previous comments, closing with no action. Bbb23 (talk) 18:05, 1 April 2020 (UTC)