Maquisbabe's Posts (RP Sock Account)
Jun. 27th, 2006 12:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amediaHere are the posts made by "maquisbabe" to the Yahoo club in December 2001.
They were made at 6 a.m. Eastern Time to maximize the time they would be up before the clubmom deleted them. Because of the way Yahoo clubs worked at that time, the titles and first sentences of these posts remained visible for several hours on people's "My Yahoo" pages even after they were deleted, so the titles and first sentences were intended to summarize the contents.
Notice that these posts were made before the LightSiders got the IP evidence. "maquisbabe" clearly believes that there is more than one puppeteer.
Ratpatrol-L Message 4174
From: "maquisbabe" <robinbland@h...>
Date: Wed Dec 5, 2001 6:11 am
Subject: Marcia did not attend Eclecticon
I have proof that Marcia did not attend Eclecticon.
Her story contradicts known facts. In message 8719, she claimed to have bought Romancing the Rats 1-3 and Rats on the Edge 1-4 and said, "I'm really glad for the opportunity to get to see the zines before I bought them." These zines were not available at the convention. When this was pointed out, she changed her story, in message 8748, "I preordered the zines, that's the only reason I went to the con in the first place was to pick them up." The dealers who handled Rainbow Butterfly Press at the convention have been contacted. They brought no pre-orders to the convention.
She said that she attended Rat Patrol panels. According to message 8719: "Panels don't really interest me much but I did sit in the back of one or two." In message 8752, she says "I was at the con for Saturday only" and that she spent the evening with someone she met there. In other words, she was only there during the day. There were no daytime Rat Patrol panels that day.
She claims in message 8752 that she met a young woman with a little boy at the dealers' table where RBP zines were sold. They began chatting as a result of the little boy's attention-getting behavior. This led to a conversation and they wound up having dinner together.
When Marcia made this story up, apparently she did not know the layout of the dealers' room. The table selling RBP zines was right cross from the Criterion Press table and the Orphan Zine table. These tables were staffed by volunteers throughout the convention. None of them saw a little boy. The dealers on either side of the table with RBP zines did not see a little boy. In fact, none of the dealers anywhere in the room saw a little boy. Most important of all, the dealers who were selling the RBP zines did not see a little boy.
Why would Marcia lie? Her posts about the convention, both here and on the tullypettigrew list, are peppered with snide comments about the convention and the other fans who attended. It appears that she was jealous of the fans who really did attend, and wanted some attention for herself.
Why do we care if Marcia lied? Everyone who was really at the convention knows she lied. So why bother to prove it? Why not just ignore her? That question will be answered in the next two posts.
Ratpatrol-L Message 4175
From: "maquisbabe" <robinbland@h...>
Date: Wed Dec 5, 2001 6:12 am
Subject: "Justin Tarr" on tullypettigrew is a fake
The person who posts as "Justin Tarr" on the tullypettigrew list isn't really Justin Tarr.
He is what's called a sock puppet. A sock puppet is an online persona created for use on a listserv, group, or club. Marcia is a sock puppet. Kimberlie is a sock puppet. Most of the 700+ members of this club (the Yahoo Rat Patrol club) are sock puppets.
How do we know "Justin Tarr" is a sock puppet?
Marcia said she met a young woman with a little boy at Eclecticon. They wound up going out to dinner together. On the tullypettigrew list, Marcia claimed that this woman was Justin Tarr's daughter. The little boy, she said, was his grandson. The person who posts as Justin Tarr confirmed this story.
But we know Marcia's story is false. Therefore, the person who confirmed her story is not the real Justin Tarr.
We are not revealing these facts or exposing these lies out of revenge or malice. Please be sure to read the next post.
Ratpatrol-L Message 4176
From: "maquisbabe" <robinbland@h...>
Date: Wed Dec 5, 2001 6:13 am
Subject: Jealousy, cruelty, and cowardice
The sock puppets have damaged fandom by attacking other fans. Vicious private emails and attacks in chat room have driven fans out of the Yahoo Rat Patrol club.
The puppeteers and their cruel, cowardly actions must be stopped before more fans are hurt. They are not only hurting individual fans, they are hurting fandom.
Both on the board and off, the puppeteers follow an agenda. They consistently act to prevent open discussion of the policies and products of Rainbow Butterfly Press. They also act to promote the interest of an organization called "the writers' group."
The puppeteers choose their victims carefully. They choose active people, like zine editors or club founders. The puppeteers are jealous of those who have truly accomplished something.
They also choose fans who have revealed emotional vulnerability, like a recent death in the family. The puppeteers are vindictive bullies who prey on people at their weakest. Their victims have been severely traumatized. Some have sharply reduced their participation in fandom.
In addition to these major attacks, they also conduct lesser campaigns of harassment. Several members of the club have received vitriolic private emails after discussions on the board.
Some of the sock puppets have been openly hostile on the board. Kimberlie, for example, was apparently created to squash a couple of threads by attacking other members.
Most of the sock puppets who post on the club seem merely annoying. But they too serve a purpose. When a conversation is going on that the puppeteers do not like, they create a large number of new puppets. The welcome messages alone make it hard to follow or continue the conversation. They fill up the message screen, pushing the conversation to the bottom or to the next screen. The vapid chatter among the new puppets has the same effect. It is a type of censorship. But we will not be silenced.
They were made at 6 a.m. Eastern Time to maximize the time they would be up before the clubmom deleted them. Because of the way Yahoo clubs worked at that time, the titles and first sentences of these posts remained visible for several hours on people's "My Yahoo" pages even after they were deleted, so the titles and first sentences were intended to summarize the contents.
Notice that these posts were made before the LightSiders got the IP evidence. "maquisbabe" clearly believes that there is more than one puppeteer.
Ratpatrol-L Message 4174
From: "maquisbabe" <robinbland@h...>
Date: Wed Dec 5, 2001 6:11 am
Subject: Marcia did not attend Eclecticon
I have proof that Marcia did not attend Eclecticon.
Her story contradicts known facts. In message 8719, she claimed to have bought Romancing the Rats 1-3 and Rats on the Edge 1-4 and said, "I'm really glad for the opportunity to get to see the zines before I bought them." These zines were not available at the convention. When this was pointed out, she changed her story, in message 8748, "I preordered the zines, that's the only reason I went to the con in the first place was to pick them up." The dealers who handled Rainbow Butterfly Press at the convention have been contacted. They brought no pre-orders to the convention.
She said that she attended Rat Patrol panels. According to message 8719: "Panels don't really interest me much but I did sit in the back of one or two." In message 8752, she says "I was at the con for Saturday only" and that she spent the evening with someone she met there. In other words, she was only there during the day. There were no daytime Rat Patrol panels that day.
She claims in message 8752 that she met a young woman with a little boy at the dealers' table where RBP zines were sold. They began chatting as a result of the little boy's attention-getting behavior. This led to a conversation and they wound up having dinner together.
When Marcia made this story up, apparently she did not know the layout of the dealers' room. The table selling RBP zines was right cross from the Criterion Press table and the Orphan Zine table. These tables were staffed by volunteers throughout the convention. None of them saw a little boy. The dealers on either side of the table with RBP zines did not see a little boy. In fact, none of the dealers anywhere in the room saw a little boy. Most important of all, the dealers who were selling the RBP zines did not see a little boy.
Why would Marcia lie? Her posts about the convention, both here and on the tullypettigrew list, are peppered with snide comments about the convention and the other fans who attended. It appears that she was jealous of the fans who really did attend, and wanted some attention for herself.
Why do we care if Marcia lied? Everyone who was really at the convention knows she lied. So why bother to prove it? Why not just ignore her? That question will be answered in the next two posts.
Ratpatrol-L Message 4175
From: "maquisbabe" <robinbland@h...>
Date: Wed Dec 5, 2001 6:12 am
Subject: "Justin Tarr" on tullypettigrew is a fake
The person who posts as "Justin Tarr" on the tullypettigrew list isn't really Justin Tarr.
He is what's called a sock puppet. A sock puppet is an online persona created for use on a listserv, group, or club. Marcia is a sock puppet. Kimberlie is a sock puppet. Most of the 700+ members of this club (the Yahoo Rat Patrol club) are sock puppets.
How do we know "Justin Tarr" is a sock puppet?
Marcia said she met a young woman with a little boy at Eclecticon. They wound up going out to dinner together. On the tullypettigrew list, Marcia claimed that this woman was Justin Tarr's daughter. The little boy, she said, was his grandson. The person who posts as Justin Tarr confirmed this story.
But we know Marcia's story is false. Therefore, the person who confirmed her story is not the real Justin Tarr.
We are not revealing these facts or exposing these lies out of revenge or malice. Please be sure to read the next post.
Ratpatrol-L Message 4176
From: "maquisbabe" <robinbland@h...>
Date: Wed Dec 5, 2001 6:13 am
Subject: Jealousy, cruelty, and cowardice
The sock puppets have damaged fandom by attacking other fans. Vicious private emails and attacks in chat room have driven fans out of the Yahoo Rat Patrol club.
The puppeteers and their cruel, cowardly actions must be stopped before more fans are hurt. They are not only hurting individual fans, they are hurting fandom.
Both on the board and off, the puppeteers follow an agenda. They consistently act to prevent open discussion of the policies and products of Rainbow Butterfly Press. They also act to promote the interest of an organization called "the writers' group."
The puppeteers choose their victims carefully. They choose active people, like zine editors or club founders. The puppeteers are jealous of those who have truly accomplished something.
They also choose fans who have revealed emotional vulnerability, like a recent death in the family. The puppeteers are vindictive bullies who prey on people at their weakest. Their victims have been severely traumatized. Some have sharply reduced their participation in fandom.
In addition to these major attacks, they also conduct lesser campaigns of harassment. Several members of the club have received vitriolic private emails after discussions on the board.
Some of the sock puppets have been openly hostile on the board. Kimberlie, for example, was apparently created to squash a couple of threads by attacking other members.
Most of the sock puppets who post on the club seem merely annoying. But they too serve a purpose. When a conversation is going on that the puppeteers do not like, they create a large number of new puppets. The welcome messages alone make it hard to follow or continue the conversation. They fill up the message screen, pushing the conversation to the bottom or to the next screen. The vapid chatter among the new puppets has the same effect. It is a type of censorship. But we will not be silenced.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 06:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 06:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-27 07:12 pm (UTC)This is an important part of the "cure" -- possibly even acts for early prevention: Post multiple examples of the behavior and responses to it TOGETHER, so the trolls and sockpuppeters are seen in a clear focus under bright light.
Otherwise, many people fail to see the pattern, or deny it. The T's & S's are greatly aided by this, and perhaps even rely on it to let them keep going for much longer than they would otherwise.
Not that I'd want to cut into
The third post describes almost EXACTLY what happened just this spring in a RW community organization I'm in! In fact, I just emailed it to a co-leader (and OMG are we tired of trying to cope with and cure it), with all the parts underlined that describe our comm's meltdown word for word. People fleeing... mass emails... personal flame-mails expanding on acrimonious board discussions... attacks on the leaders and the most successful... personal traumas caused and exploited.
Good work, again! Many thanks on behalf of all fandoms and social communities. I honor you for your commitment to restoring your RP fandom's dignity without denying or excusing what happened. This takes work and courage. I think it will be heartening to many others besides myself.
Maquis Babe and the three posts
Date: 2006-06-29 11:02 pm (UTC)This brings back memories. I was at that ECon; I was one of the persons who worked the Criterion Press table and the Orphan Zine Table. I remember well the conversations with MaquisBabe about who was where, who talked to who, the number of children present (one - a girl called Tori), etc. I remember Agel checking her Membership info and finding no Marcia that she didn't personally know.
And I remember being UP at 6am that infamous day when the posts crossed - they were posted then, I believe, to give them a little life before the West Coast stirred and the Puppet-controlled List Moderator could pull them.
The house of bricks turned to straw that day...
Re: Maquis Babe and the three posts
Date: 2006-06-29 11:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-01 05:35 am (UTC)You're welcome!
I'm following with interest. I've Friended you so I can keep following it. (You don't have to Friend me back, I don't care. ^-^)
But, but... you didn't use your cool "friend" icon! (Yeah, I went and looked at your lj. [g])
I'm always fascinated by fandom wank, especially since I was peripherally involved in the Victoria Bitters saga,
Oh, my. VB had some things in common with our CatO...
no subject
Date: 2006-07-01 05:38 am (UTC)I've heard from people I haven't heard from in years as a result of this! Like "arnie" above. And "storyboard girl" has promised to send me whole bunches of stuff. (I have her permission to mention her as Nancy now, which is reminding me of the Beatles' Rocky Raccoon.)
Good work, again! Many thanks on behalf of all fandoms and social communities.
You are so very welcome. I can't tell you how much your kind words have meant.
I'm glad this has helped you with the meltdown in your RW (real world?) community organization, though I'm sorry to hear such a sad thing has happened in that community.
Re: Maquis Babe and the three posts
Date: 2006-07-01 01:12 pm (UTC)Yes. you do. And you know who now. And you know that I'm dangerous when baking....
no subject
Date: 2006-07-01 03:15 pm (UTC)RP sock puppets
Date: 2008-08-31 03:25 pm (UTC)Re: RP sock puppets
Date: 2008-08-31 08:28 pm (UTC)Someone told me there was a suspiciously similar person making trouble on a list for fans of the Young and the Restless. *shudder*
Re: RP sock puppets
Date: 2008-11-22 03:51 am (UTC)