Patterico… Suavé
Posted By Russ Emerson on July 27, 2006 at 2:34 pm
At Patterico’s Pontifications, Patrick Frey documents, at length and with class and humor, the full tale of Glenn Greenwald’s sock-puppetry.
Sock puppetry — the use of pseudonymous commenters to defend one’s self or to advance one’s own talking points, thus implying that there are actually people who agree with you — is a bloggery misdemeanor* that, while not itself necessarily invalidating any arguments the blogger/puppeteer makes, does indeed speak to the honesty of the blogger/puppeteer.
In a media where personal credibility is all-important, evident dishonesty is perhaps good cause to question any or all of the blogger’s product.
* As opposed to, say, using blog posts and/or comments to threaten people with whom you disagree — a blogging (and, y’know, probably an actual) felony.
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