This morning I got a LinkedIn invite to connect to none other than the prime minister of Thailand. Finally, my LinkedIn connections are breaking through to the big leagues! While I realize that there are some political demonstrations going on in Thailand currently, I was shocked to see that the Prime Minister is self-employed. Also a shock was that her email is listed as "remitiancedepar" at AOL. Wow, she is on AOL (how old-fashioned!), and she works for the mis-spelled remittance department -- I did not even know AOL had a department for international bank transfers (Note: I doubt they would have one). She surely gets around!
While this invite seems harmless, and almost like a cute novelty item, indeed it is not. It is an example of a “sockpuppet" - an online identity used for the purpose of deception.
Benjamin Franklin was the first modern sockpuppeteer in the US. He created pseudonyms for his writing, and created entire personas around the “author”. The examples include Mrs. Dogood, Martha Careful, Anthony Afterwit, Alice Addertongue, and Richard Saunders (as in “Poor Richard’s Almanack, first published in 1732). As the names may imply, many of these were created in satirical settings. "Yingluck Shinawatra” is likely not in this category.
While this invite seems harmless, and almost like a cute novelty item, indeed it is not. It is an example of a “sockpuppet" - an online identity used for the purpose of deception.
Benjamin Franklin was the first modern sockpuppeteer in the US. He created pseudonyms for his writing, and created entire personas around the “author”. The examples include Mrs. Dogood, Martha Careful, Anthony Afterwit, Alice Addertongue, and Richard Saunders (as in “Poor Richard’s Almanack, first published in 1732). As the names may imply, many of these were created in satirical settings. "Yingluck Shinawatra” is likely not in this category.
So, now that I have “befriended” Yingluck Shinawatra, what bad could possibly occur next?
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