User:NinjaRobotPirate/Identifying sock puppets

Types of new users

New editors generally come in a few broad archetypes. Among others, these include sock puppets, overly enthusiastic younger editors, clueless newbies, spammers, college students, and nerds. Spammers and sock puppets should be indefinitely blocked. Overly enthusiastic younger editors should be coached or mentored if they become a pain. Clueless newbies should be assisted or perhaps directed to the Teahouse. College students should have institutional help but may need direction to on-wiki sources of help. Nerds come in many different varieties, including scientists, academics, and IT workers. They are generally the opposite of a clueless newbie and may draw suspicion because they don't act clueless enough.

Differentiating between various types of new editors

Action	Sock	Child	Newbie	Spammer	Student	Nerd
Acts like a bossy know-it-all	Yes	Maybe	No	No	No	Maybe
Indignant at being treated like a newbie	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Repeatedly requests advanced permissions	Yes	Yes	Yes	Maybe	Yes	Yes
Installs user scripts and gadgets	Yes	Rarely	No	Rarely	No	Yes
Gaming autoconfirmed	Yes	Yes	Rarely	Yes	No	No
Gaming extended confirmed	Yes	Rarely	Rarely	Yes	No	No
Goes directly to a drama board	Yes	Yes	Rarely	No	No	No
Instant drama with established editor	Yes	Yes	Rarely	No	No	No
User page is a rant	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Rarely
Cluttered userpage with lots of userboxes	Yes	Yes	Maybe	No	Rarely	No
User page copies an established editor	Yes	Yes	Rarely	No	No	No
Repeated clueless posts to project space	Yes	Yes	Maybe	No	No	No
Immediate barnstar from another newbie	Yes	Yes	Maybe	No	Yes	No
First edit is to vote at AfD	Yes	No	Rarely	Yes	No	Yes
Votes at RFA or major RFCs	Yes	Maybe	Rarely	No	Rarely	Rarely
First edit is to declare, "I'm not a sock"	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Edits policy pages, complex templates, etc	Yes	Maybe	No	No	No	Yes
Excessive interest in sock puppetry cases	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Rarely
Recreates deleted articles	Yes	Rarely	Rarely	Yes	Yes	Yes
Creates inappropriate articles	Yes	Maybe	Yes	Yes	Yes	Maybe
Moves bad articles out of draft space	Yes	Yes	Rarely	Yes	No	No
Promo or U5 content in sandbox	Yes	Yes	Maybe	Yes	No	No
Requests creation protection be removed	Yes	No	Rarely	Yes	Rarely	Rarely
Complains about filters, blacklists, etc.	Yes	No	Rarely	Yes	Rarely	No
Confirmed to many accounts	Yes	Maybe	Maybe	Yes	Yes	Maybe
Action	Sock	Child	Newbie	Spammer	Student	Nerd