Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Master Editor 10/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets
Thanks - w o lf  00:11, 20 November 2022 (UTC)
 * The IP account was used first but usage dropped off almost to nil after the registered account was created. Since then, the IP account has made less than a dozen edits, to only two articles, both in support of the registered account.
 * The two accounts have both edited oddly disperate articles;
 * They both support each other, in a long ongoing dispute on the page Talk:General of the Air Force, where there is a consensus against their position. The thread is "Insignia image", in the section "(cont'd 2022)". Also, diffs such as 1, 2, 3 & 4, 5, 6 - in which they reply to each other and even name each other in their posts, show this is a deliberate effort to deceive and not just a matter of forgetting to sign in.
 * The two also support each other with reverts in an edit dispute against the same user on the BLP Stephen House (1, 2 & 3).
 * Both accounts have edited Red Mountain High School in a manner indicating they attended there.
 * On X-tools, the two accounts have nearly identical time cards (68.14.208.126 & Master Editor 10)
 * The Editor Interaction Analyzer shows they have nine articles in common, out of a total of 24 for the IP acct and 40 for the registered acct.
 * Also note some identical edits & edit summaries:
 * 68.14.208.126: "put the three rosettes onto the naval long service ribbon then had to reformat the table to make it all line up properly" on List of titles and honours of Charles III
 * Master Editor 10: "added rosettes to naval long service ribbon and created new column in chart for ribbons (to make rosette formatting work)" on List of titles and honours of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Also, my apologies if this should have been filed under the name of the registered account (I'm not experienced in filing SPIs). I believe this was done according to the directions, but if need be, I'll re-file it under the registered account. Thanks again - w o lf  05:56, 21 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Hello and thank you for processing this report. I see you moved the page to the name of the registered account instead of the IP account. To that end, I'm wondering if perhaps the SPI instructions, "How to open an investigation:" should be clarified so that in cases with both an IP and registered account, the case should always be filed under the registered account, regardless of which came first? Anyway, I'll leave that wih you. Thanks again. - w o lf  04:18, 22 November 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

 * Moved to named account. --  Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she&#124;they&#124;xe) 12:33, 21 November 2022 (UTC)
 * IP geolocates to Phoenix/Mesa, Ariz. IP edits about Phoenix/Mesa, Ariz., including Red Mountain High School. Master Editor 10 edits about Phoenix/Mesa, Ariz., including Red Mountain High School. So either we have two people from the same place with the same interest in a very niche topic that very few Americans care about, with similar writing styles and a tendency to agree with each other, or we have sockpuppetry. I'm going to go with the latter.On the one hand, socking to skew consensus in discussions is one of the worst kinds of socking. On the other and, Master Editor 10 is a new editor, and has made constructive edits. I want to believe that this is a case of someone getting a bit carried away because they thought they invented the idea of sockpuppetry, and that a block of considerable but not indefinite length will drive the point home and limit this to a one-time mistake. Master Editor 10, please don't make me regret this leniency.IP blocked 6mo AO ACB, account blocked 1mo. --  Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she&#124;they&#124;xe) 12:46, 21 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I see how that guidance could be ambiguous. Special:Diff/1123186070. --  Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she&#124;they&#124;xe) 11:25, 22 November 2022 (UTC)