"Ghost Accounts" - 3 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Cheat on Picks

Opinion by nosemuffin posted 8 months ago

4.6	by 104 fans
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I'm not afraid of you, Ghost!

So I was hanging out on my computer this evening, watching some videos and browsing on Fanpop, when I noticed something that disturbed me. In not one, but two different spots. I discovered several examples of what I believe to be "Ghost Accounts".

"Ghost Accounts" are what I'm calling additional accounts created by an already existing Fanpop member to skew the results of a pick or an argument in their favor. I have read things posted by other Fanpoppers suggesting their existence in the past, but hadn't knowingly spotted any for myself. Tonight I believe I spotted three different people doing this.

The first example I discovered through a series of picks created by a user that I had never seen around before. I'm all for new users, so I answered the picks and made some comments. Within the comment sections of these picks, I noticed two other users that I had never seen before. The thing is, the three users didn't always answer the same way, but their comments were always similarly rude. I decided to compare all three users and I discovered that they had much in common. They had all joined Fanpop this month, none of them belonged to any spots, aside from their icons - their fanpop user pages were all blank, and they had all answered picks from the exact same four spots, and only those four spots.

I found the second example within a pick that had been answered 444 times. This pick had three pages of comments, and on the second page, I saw the following: Three comments that said the exact same thing, in a row. All three user names were different but fit the same pattern, Girls-first-name followed immediately by a two digit number. An example of what they looked like is "Mary25". And all three belonged to users that had no icons, contributions, or information to speak of. Not to mention they didn't belong to a single spot.

The third, and luckily, final example I noticed was within the exact same pick as the second example. As I mentioned, this particular pick had three pages of comments. After reading through them, I went back to check the results of the pick. I found the option that came in second place particularly odd because in those three pages of comments, I hadn't seen a single one in support of it. This option had been added to the pick by a user other than the picks creator. I went ahead and clicked on the person who added this option only to discover, you guessed it, that their user page was blank! In fact, this was the only pick they had ever answered.

Obviously, I have no way of knowing if these are in fact "Ghost Accounts", but the coincidences seem overwhelmingly in favor of that being the case. Since I had never before noticed behavior such as this, and I noticed it three whole times today, I decided to think of three reasons that creating these accounts to answer picks is just plain silly. Without further ado:

#1 - You Know Better!
It's not a presidential election, Fanpop is for fun! There is no point in seeing your choice win if you know it isn't genuine. Do you really think that seeing your favorite thing "win" a pick will have more impact on someone than reading your well thought-out, well written comments would?

#2 - It's disrespectful to Other Users
There are two main functions to posting a pick. One is that you get to share your opinions with others. The other is that you get to see what other people think. By tampering with the results of a pick, you deprive its maker of the latter by making said results inaccurate. I know that when I post a pick, what I most enjoy afterwards is reading the comments that it spawned from others. It's great to make your opinion known, but use comments to do so. I guarantee that they will be read.

#3 - Being in the Minority is OK
So what if your opinion is not the popular one. Take pride in the fact that you're an independent thinker or that you see something where few others do. Or better yet, flex your debate skills by trying to persuade others to see your point.

So those are my reasons. I know that most of you who are reading this are cool, respectful people who realize the idiocy of committing the aforementioned act. I was just annoyed with what I saw tonight so I had to release my irritation somewhere. Thanks for listening.

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37 comments

	nanelarya said: i think ive seen some of that too. i agree! no one is gonna shoot you for your opinion! posted 8 months ago.

	The_Shizzali said: RIGHT IN SISTER! posted 8 months ago.

	x-xmEx-x said: completely agree also the point is to see everyones views so its just stupid. posted 8 months ago.

	aholic said: I can't believe they actually do that. posted 8 months ago. last edited 8 months ago

	amazondebs said: we must pity them as they clearly have nothing better to do! does anyone know if double accounts are allowed? like can your report them or what? posted 8 months ago.

	NikaDawson said: I agree. Great article nosemuffin. And I have no idea debs. posted 8 months ago.

	inespinto said: Great article! Apparently there are a lot of people who do this to rate their own stuff and therefore win medals (I read a lot about this things on the VRSOF spot) and I think it's disrespectful and it also diminishes the act of earning medals or seeing your choice on picks win! I agree with you completely! posted 8 months ago.

	HannaK said: Great article, I just can't understand why people have to make everthing a sort 'game' your opinion can't be wrong so why do you want so bad that people share the same opinion? posted 8 months ago.

	LavenderBlue said: I never really took much notice of these sort of things to be honest. I am glad some people do and point it out. It is great of you to bring it to our and Fanpop's attention. Maybe something will be done about it. You never know. :) posted 8 months ago.

	Saul_Mikoliunas said: Some users will be so happy you made this although for different reasons.There have been lots of cases recently of people making up lots more accounts just to rate there own stuff and get medals and this is just sad. You probably can repot them amazondebs however it would be very difficult to prove it as the only way you could tell is by their ip address and if for example, in my case, that two sisters use the one computer, it would be unfair to ban one of them when it is not the same person. I'm not entirely sure that made sense but to sum up, great article! posted 8 months ago. last edited 8 months ago

	x-missmckena-x said: that sounds like my tv couples pick! i swear there alot on that pick! and didnt we all notice one on the bangel vs spuffy spot! i dont have enough time to go on even my own let alone have like 5 more! lol! great article nosemuffin! posted 8 months ago.

	kathiria82 said: OMFG let me show you a perfect example of that right now! Look at this pick I created 10 months ago. If you read the comments you will understand what I`ve had to deal with. The hilarious part is that many of the users who have been answering the pick lately have gotten their accounts deleted. I had to close the pick because it was getting so ridiculous. posted 8 months ago.

	inespinto said: Oh my god I just read the comments on that pick Kathiria there are like a gazillion accounts that have been deleted and a lot of comments saying basically the same! It's so ridiculous, I'm just completely stunned to what would make a person do that! It's just a pick, it's not the world ends if the choice they want doesn't win! posted 8 months ago.

	jamislife said: you are a super slueth nosemuffin...you should join the FBI hhehe : ) great soapbox posted 8 months ago.

	amazondebs said: i know, and who ever was on the bangel vs spuffy thinks we're dense it's like 'these are the only picks i've answered cause i have just joined' what all of you at the same time? ahh well at least they were in spuffy's favor mkena :P posted 8 months ago.

	PkmnTrainerJ said: I've accidentally cheated at picks before but in a very different way. When I'm indecisive on a pick I'll click one choice, change my mind as the page loads and click another choice and then the pick registers both of my choices. I only noticed it recently. posted 8 months ago.

	tyleroffice4 said: I am sorry, but I actually did make a second account one night because I was extremely bored, but I never go on it. I think it got deleted I don't know because I forget the password. I would like to start up the A.G.A.T.F. Anti-Ghost Accounts Task Force! Good Soapbox posted 8 months ago. last edited 8 months ago

	scififan said: which pick on the bangel v. spuffy spot? I don't think I noticed "ghost accounts". But I do agree with you missmckena...I hardly have enough time to fanpop for myself, let alone for other accounts. Great article...I never even thought about "ghost accounts" before. posted 8 months ago.

	lila88 said: i don't have an icon or contribution, i don't belong to a single spot, my username is a girls first name followed by a two digit number, and still, i don't have a ghost account... so it's possible that people join, but hardly use their account... posted 8 months ago.

	x-missmckena-x said: kathiria82 i know what you mean all my picks on greys spot that involve alex izzie or george have al had exactly the saem comments from all them people, and ive had a buse of a bunch of them, i always wonder if there a ghost account or not! and scififan it was one that was like who do you like bangel vs spuffy ive just joined and im trying to make my friend mad! and then there was a bunch of posts no icon exactly the same comment! posted 8 months ago.

	notesofchange said: Now that you mention it..i've seen a lot of that in the Danny Noriega Spot. Most of the 'fans' on there have no pictures, they haven't joined any spots, and they all joined in March. So i clicked on a few and they also hadn't joined any other spots and yet they've answered all the Danny Noriega Picks. Idk, it seemed fishy to me, so i'm glad you said something about it. Maybe people will stop creating these Ghost Accounts. Idk..check out the fans on Danny Noriega..http://www.fanpop.com/spots/danny-noriega/fans posted 8 months ago. last edited 8 months ago

	Leyton4ever said: awesome article nosemuffin. I definately agree with everything that you said. When I post a pick, I want people's geniune answers. I post alot of picks on the OTH websites. I love to share my opinion of course but the best part is reading what other fanpoppers think!! posted 8 months ago.

	amazondebs said: wow notesofchange that ridiculus, they must be fake , surely! loads of them even have similar names posted 8 months ago.

	ineedcoffee said: wow notesofchange those are not just any old users, great article nosemuffin! I also noticed alot accounts when I was checking to lets say be fake looking, so the only thing is let the powers that be deal with them. posted 8 months ago.

	meeee said: Great soapbox I want to start the A.G.A.T.F and can we have a special car so I can say "to the anti-ghostmobile"? No okay.... Walks away sadly Comes running back I still want to be a member Walks away sadly again posted 8 months ago.

	Serienjunkie91 said: Love it. I think I noticed someone who gives "himself" many many props. Kinda weird, isn't it?! posted 8 months ago.

	alicelattey said: I agree, in fact I think the best comments are ones which are from people who have picked a minority option but have good points as to why and actually persuade you a bit. Great article!! posted 8 months ago.

	Gabigirl said: So this is what happened, a couple of us who joined recently got our accounts suspended for a while because there as suspicions of spamming. I was one of them, I was able to prove I was not spamming, ahd a valid user id and all and was reinstated, it happened to a couple of my friends. We all joined after seeing someone from here post a link recently to this board. To be honest, I had not known of this site before. Anyhow, some of us got our accounts suspended until things were cleared, making sure we were not ghost writers and all, and a few of us have got our accounts back now. This is such a mess. I am sure a few people are spamming picks and polls and because of them, all the new users have to pay. I post in about 6 sites and this had never happened to me before, but it was fixed in a day, so I am fine with it as long as they get all the spammers off. posted 8 months ago.

	Milania said: This happened to me too, and I got my account back, but my cousin and my best friend have sent emails yesterday telling them they were not spammers, and giving them their email address and eevrything to check and their accounts are still being suspended. This is ridiculous, I know my cousin is not a spammer and every info she has provided is true. Heck, they had even suspended one of the person who has been posting there since June, but gave her back her account in a few hours. I know, 6 of my friends had the same thing happen to them and now have their account back, so not sure why my cousin and my friend still don<t have theirs. I get the whole punishing spammers thing, but shouldn<t they like make sure the person is a spammer before suspending their accounts. In cases like Gabi and mine and my friends who got their accounts back, we were all clearly innocent, which was proven as we are now back posting. This never happened to me before posted 8 months ago.

	trfan2 said: I know, I know that person, Mariem, she posts pretty much everywhere and she is about one of the most active Gizzie fans out there, thank God this was cleared and she got our account back. I didn't get it though, they said the spammers came a week ago and she has been a member for months, so not sure why she was singled out except if someone suspected her, but she got her account back pretty soon so obviously things were cleared. A lot of innocent people have had their accounts temporarily suspended, and some have gotten it back, but some have been waiting for a few days, I know I have talked to some of them I have been a member here since June so I should be safe but I do wonder if people who express a different opinion are not welcome here or something, or maybe new fans are not. I have no doubt there are some really fake ghost accounts, but my sister had her account suspended and she is not a fake person, weird! Instead of checking out who the real spammers are, they seem to be putting everyone in the same basket posted 8 months ago.

	linguisticlove said: I got cleared and so did a lot of others, so that is good, but some are still waiting, I do wish they had checked my email first, they would have seen it was genuine and I would not have to go through this posted 7 months ago.

	chel1395 said: Great soapbox, nosemuffin. I actually didn't realize ghost accounts were so prominent on Fanpop, but I can only hope that anyone who would resort to those measures won't be on Fanpop long. By the way, this is totally off topic, but I really want to write a soapbox about how much I love your name, nosemuffin. It's so much fun to say. :D posted 7 months ago.

	AubreyT said: I got suspended on suspicion of this, then got cleared. It was explained to me that in effort to eradicate spammers, all new accounts had been suspended, even the innocent ones. So far, about 16 people who had been accused, their accounts suspende, have got their accounts back. I have been counting them. Both my sister and I were among them and we were innocent and now have our accounts back. At least now nobody can accuse us of spamming as our innocence has been proven. It makes me mad that a few spammers got so many innocent people temoporarilyn suspended and we then had to prove our innocence posted 7 months ago.

	cutemimi said: Great soapbox! I never actually noticed these "ghost-accounts" but I look out for them now. posted 7 months ago.

	tinkerluvr said: Maybe we should report ghost acount owners. Let's start a group that will be on the lookout for these "ghost-account" owners and track them. send me a message if you are in! ;) People will also ghost account so they can become fans of themselves and their spots, and rate their own things. posted 4 months ago. last edited 4 months ago

	khfan12 said: true, tinkluvr. i'll talk to soralover1 about it. maybe she knows what to do. posted 4 months ago.

	ay3 said: AAAAHH!!! shiversthese guys seam SCARY! but thats really WIERD r u really that desperate 4 ONE pick 2 go in ur favor and make accounts to CHEAT!? TISK TISK havnt ur teachers taught u better? or do u make a ghost person to go to school FOR u? hhhmmm rubs imaginary beard thats a good idea... OMG NOTESOFCHANGE U HAVE FOUND LIKE 15 GHOSTS ACCOUNTS! posted 4 months ago. last edited 4 months ago