So I was hanging out on my computer this evening, watching some 비디오 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 의해 an already existing 팬팝 member to skew the results of a pick 또는 an argument in their favor. I have read things 게시됨 의해 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 의해 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 코멘트 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 코멘트 were always similarly rude. I decided to compare all three users and I discovered that they had much in common. They had all joined 팬팝 this month, none of them belonged to any spots, aside from their 아이콘 - their 팬팝 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 초 example within a pick that had been answered 444 times. This pick had three pages of comments, and on the 초 page, I saw the following: Three 코멘트 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 의해 a two digit number. An example of what they looked like is "Mary25". And all three belonged to users that had no icons, contributions, 또는 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 초 example. As I mentioned, this particular pick had three pages of comments. After 읽기 through them, I went back to check the results of the pick. I found the option that came in 초 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 의해 a user other than the picks creator. I went ahead and clicked on the person who added this option only to discover, 당신 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 - 당신 Know Better!
It's not a presidential election, 팬팝 is for fun! There is no point in seeing your choice win if you know it isn't genuine. Do 당신 really think that seeing your 가장 좋아하는 thing "win" a pick will have 더 많이 impact on someone than 읽기 your well thought-out, well written 코멘트 would?

#2 - It's disrespectful to Other Users
There are two main functions to posting a pick. One is that 당신 get to share your opinions with others. The other is that 당신 get to see what other people think. 의해 tampering with the results of a pick, 당신 deprive its maker of the latter 의해 making said results inaccurate. I know that when I post a pick, what I most enjoy afterwards is 읽기 the 코멘트 that it spawned from others. It's great to make your opinion known, but use 코멘트 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 인기 one. Take pride in the fact that you're an independent thinker 또는 that 당신 see something where few others do. 또는 better yet, flex your 토론 skills 의해 trying to persuade others to see your point.

So those are my reasons. I know that most of 당신 who are 읽기 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.