Blocked as a sockpuppet[edit]

This user's unblock request has been reviewed by an administrator, who declined the request. Other administrators may also review this block, but should not override the decision without good reason (see the blocking policy).

CrankyBolt (block logactive blocksglobal blockscontribsdeleted contribsfilter logcreation logchange block settingsunblockcheckuser (log))


Request reason:

Hello! You have blocked me because of a sock puppetry account! Of which, I am not! I am a real life living person, with a single account: CrankyBolt. This handle of CrankyBolt is my main account for facebook: www.facebook.com/crankybolt, Twitter, Google hangouts, and all video games. I DID do edits while at work though, and thus my IP is sitting somewhere in the bulk of the greater Chicagoland area. Furthermore, the author page: For Rick Heinz (author) (which is me) I did log in to edit and correct some very basic bio-stuff, but everything is sourced, and cited by third party news / websites. I've read the guide on appealing the block for Sock-Puppetry and understand that it's best if I take no edits for 6 months. That part I've got no problems with, but am still appealing the fact that someone thinks I am someone else. Thank you for your time.

Decline reason:

Per admitted meatpuppetry and paid editing concerns, see below. Yunshui  11:48, 8 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]


If you want to make any further unblock requests, please read the guide to appealing blocks first, then use the ((unblock)) template again. If you make too many unconvincing or disruptive unblock requests, you may be prevented from editing this page until your block has expired. Do not remove this unblock review while you are blocked.

  1. How did you come to know that your article had been written on Wikipedia and what do you know about who wrote it?
  2. Who is Whixper and what is your relation to that account?
     — Berean Hunter (talk) 18:20, 24 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
There has always been another Rick Heinz page on Wiki, but he was a hockey player and not me, the author. After being nominated for the Dragon Awards in 2017 I became aware that there was a quick, small, wiki entry after searching myself on Google. (Like ya do). But, I wanted to get it more in line with other author pages and put some of those fancy tables in. Whixper is a friend of mine who knows how to code and I asked him to figure out how to use the table's, particularly for the bio section on the right of the wiki page. I couldn't figure out how to get it in, so I had him help get the page to look like it currently does and add in missing information. There is more sources, citations, and additional references we could of added, but didn't know how many would be common practice. — Preceding unsigned comment added by CrankyBolt (talkcontribs) 03:08, August 25, 2017 (UTC)
"I became aware that there was a quick, small, wiki entry after searching myself on Google. (Like ya do)."
No. This article was created on August 10 by a confirmed sockmaster who is an undisclosed paid editor. This was a paid job. It is not plausible that you decided to do a random search on yourself and show up (Aug 15) one day after the paid editor made his last substantial contribution to the article (Aug 14).
 — Berean Hunter (talk) 12:13, 25 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Again, I ask you to reconsider. Whisper is also not me. He is a person I know. The Dragon Award Nominations were announced August 4th? I've been googling myself near every day and searching the twitter hashtags for news because I've been on a few blog nominations. How is it not possible, during this time, that I would move to correct my own bio on Wiki? Besides, the thing I'm being accused of us being a sock puppet or having multiple accounts. I don't. I have one. You can easily find me on every aspect of social media under this very same handle. I'm not hiding. Thank you for your time.
Also, if you want, I can provide you with whatever source you are looking for to verify my online identity. As for my friend Whisper, to prove an easy connection that we know each other in person and he's my website friend. Not only is he a character in my book, but the website for the game we've run together for years was built by him (http://larp.seventh-age.com/ in addition to him putting up my book page after I got published. He's not a fake account. He's my buddy. If paid, you mean I threw him some extra xp on his character in my tabletop game... then yes. Guilty as charged there. But, like I said, if you need links, social media accounts, references, what have you. I can provide them. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by CrankyBolt (talkcontribs) 13:08, August 25, 2017 (UTC)
You don't have to keep using the unblock template as your first one above is still active (blue). It hasn't been declined. You may sign your posts using four tildes, ~~~~ so that the postings have attribution. Also, you may indent your postings using colons to maintain conversational format as I have done here.
Another admin blocked the paid sockmaster pursuant to this SPI case. You haven't accounted for that paid editor and the aspect of sockpuppetry here that applies is meatpuppetry. At the present, it is the three accounts that have taken part in meatpuppetry towards a conflict of interest. Please note that paying to have an article edited isn't against policy itself because there are ways in which that may be done within the bounds of policy. What is missing here is the plausible explanation for the third account.
 — Berean Hunter (talk) 13:46, 25 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Gotcha! Still getting used to the format around here. Will try the indent and nowiki. Okay. Topic at hand: Yes, there are three accounts. Two of which, I know. Myself (CrankyBolt) the actual author of the novel and page. And my Friend (Whisper). Both of us are long term friends and we did both indeed edit the author page to correct an incorrect bio that was placed up there. It was short, it cited some things, but had some errors and seemed really short. So we moved to fix it as soon as possible. The book was published on 1/21/2017 and no wiki-page existed until after it was nominated for a Dragon Award on 2017. It is possible my publisher (Inkshares) or (Nerdist) had a page made, but I haven't heard anything from them and assume they would of done a better job. I'm not defending, or fighting for, or doing any leveraging for this third account Liborbital. At Inkshares we do use Fivvr for both creating SEO searches and even making videos or getting art / editing services. Getting a wiki entry has been done by others with the same publisher. I will make whatever request I am simply trying to prove the validity of myself (the author) and my friend (whisper) in editing that page. Yes, there is a conflict of interest in me wanting correct information on my own bio page, and I will comply with whatever policies I need to in order to get the correct information on there. Just point me in the right direction please :) CrankyBolt (talk) 14:20, 25 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

If you wish to be unblocked, there are a number of conditions you will need to comply with. You, your publisher and your personal acquaintances need to agree to stop editing the article about you altogether. The Edit request process is the only way any of you should be proposing changes to the page. Further, the fact that you may be posting editing jobs on Fiverr is deeply concerning, as editors taking such jobs are obliged under Wikipedia's terms of use to disclose their paid editing; to the best of my awareness, none of the editors on the article about you have done so. Frankly, I do not see that having you and your agency editing here is beneficial to the encyopedia, and as such I have declined your unblock request above.Yunshui  11:58, 8 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I understand your requirements and have no problems with them. This is simply a matter of learning the ropes around here and some new users, so apologies regarding the method of use and means of which things were procured. I've spoken with the Publisher and informed them of requirements to use WP:ER for getting future articles and updating information that is put in about people under their umbrella. Do I need to put in another unblock request or will this message be noticed? CrankyBolt (talk) 3:09, 15th September 2017 (UTC)