I don't want to make a full-on callout here, as I certainly may be wrong, but the convenient joining,
post history, and favoriting of
Gratuitous1, who joined yesterday and has heavily jumped in to defend (practically alone) Second Account in his
text messaging suspicions question, seems to me highly suspicious.
It certainly may be a coincidence, though personally I doubt it, but,
while we should all be able to have as many personalities/accounts as we want without them being tied together, using them in one thread, to pretend to be a different person giving "backup" in your discussions seems to me to be a significant breach of good faith and civility, which goes beyond the limits of appropriate use. I may be alone in this opinion, of course.
Still, as Gratutious1 has no further post history to "out", as admins have access to IPs and account creation payment records (I'd assume), and could potentially clear this up, I was hoping they might check and see if this is the case.
I figure if my request is considered, it would lead to one of three scenarios:
1) They are the same person and the mods can tell: I think we should know, as it alters the discussion considerably.
2) They are clearly not the same person, at all. No privacy breached. A suspicious account is cleared of suspicions, and several people including me apologize to them both.
3) The mods look but it can't be proven either way, as IPs are not perfect for this, etc. So be it, we're exactly where we are now with suspicions but no fact.
Perhaps the above is simply considered out of bounds to check. I realize multiple accounts have the right to remain separate under normal use, but I do not feel such potential issues are under the umbrella of "normal use". If this is denied, at the least I would like to hear some opinions on the practice of creating a second account to bolster your argument as though you were a separate person (as an overall issue, not as in this unknown instance,) and see if I am in line with the community or not on seeing it as a major transgression.
((I am so going to get called out for my callout here, but at least then I'll know the community's thoughts.))
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:22 AM on October 1, 2007