Sock Puppets. The show must go on.

[Good intentions]

When you talk about him or reply to his posts you feed his ego. He might have come to the forum for real problems in the beginning but now he’s just here for entertainment and attention. Each new persona is like a new fishing line in the water. Each response is a bite. I am reasonably certain that there one or two new ones are on the forum now. The same statements and same questions are asked, but replacing normal words with strange ones.

They make software tools to find these types of things. A certain famous writer has just been called out for using a ghost writer and passing the work off as their own. We all have limited vocabularies and use words in certain patterns. So, despite the annoyance of the impersonator, I’ve actually become more aware of some new things.
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The typical new persona is strangely well-informed despite being new to the hernia world, and has “heard/read bad things about mesh/tissue repairs”. Which is normal, of course, but normal details are usually missing in their story.

I think that a large warning at the top of the new forum page will help. Trolls have been a part of the internet since forums were created. The new VPN software, as someone noted earlier, just makes it very easy to bypass security measures.

[Oceanic]

This forum needs at least one active moderator which I’m sure Dr.T doesnt have time to do, toxic idiots like Chuck need stamping out, swiftly and permanently.

[Mark H]

My concern is that as the bad buys are being whacked, a lot of other very relevant posts are being either deleted or denied. A bad case of throwing out the baby with the bath water.

As an example, I’ve tried on a number of occasions to write a concise cost breakdown of my treatment in late September but keep getting blocked. At first I thought it was my browser and AdBlocker settings (which is quite common!) but on submission I keep getting a message saying it will be manually moderated. Imagine my annoyance when blatant spam posts go sailing through!

For a forum to be any use it needs to add the good stuff as well as block the bad.

[David M]

Helpful shouldnt be considered weird. It might be fairly unusual, but in a good way. It’s also obviously the same writing style that Dr Kang has always had here, with information about his methods that only he would know.

[Alephy]

I personally find it pretty weird that a patient doctor communication/exchange should happen on a public forum…

[David M]

Kody,

Watchful has been an extremely welcome poster in this forum, almost always with measured advice and a willingness to share his own knowledge and experience. It would be a loss for the forum to have him deactivated.

As far as calling you anorexic, some context might be helpful. Had you been a Chuck character, you would have been at minimum about number 12. I’m not exactly sure why Chuck started doing this, but it’s been going on for the last few months. Usually, it’s been a harmless amount of fiction. When a new account is opened and the person posts with a full knowledge of the board and the Chuck style of speaking,its been pretty easy to see that it’s Chuck. Your post had the knowledge of the board, but Your story was more differentiated and believable than the previous Chuck personnas, and it wasn’t crazy to think that Chuck had done a more complete job of creating a character. The most unbelievable part of your post was the height and weight you gave. So, it was somewhat understandable that Watchful didnt believe he was actually offending a real person, but instead a fictitious one.

[KodyH]

Hi Good Intentions,

I made the second account after I had found my first one had the posts deleted and was deactivated. That is great that it’s been fixed but now I have two accounts unnecessarily. Please see Dr. Kang’s verification of my identity. There is zero reason for anyone to continue claiming I’m not real at this point and honestly I think Watchful especially owes me an apology for the distress and his offensive language referring to me as “anorexic.” How is that language used in such a way not worthy of being deactivated? That to me is pretty concerning.

[G]

Interestingly, after sending the above post, I received a personal “post” in my messages under my own user name from an unidentified user using my own handle of G. It appears our resident sock puppet is very adroit at assuming other’s existing identities. Just a heads up and more data for us to learn from. The “gaslighting” attempt was rather well done. I’ve got to give our sock puppet an A for effort.

[G]

Dr. Towfigh and Good Intentions please don’t be disheartened or disillusioned. You and others on this forum do an invaluable service for those pf us seeking hernia repair. It is the nature of the anonymity of the internet, combined with various individual “agendas” that create the GIGO (garbage in garbage out) environment perpetuated by various “trolls”. I’ve read that online reviews are susceptible to the same types of issues. Various factions can “stack” reviews in this or that way to suit their overall goals. Look at the glass as half full not half empty. Ultimately we use our own discernment when it comes to decision making. I suggest we focus on the positive and learn to recognize the negative.

[Good intentions]

P.S. Dr. Towfigh or her website manager should be able to reopen the original Kody’s account and show the original posts. For what it’s worth I thought that he said he was 21 not 22.

And, to be frank, there’s no guarantee that the new KodyH is the original Kody. He gave the information necessary to create a new Kody facsimile in his first posts. Just one of those things that makes you wonder. Chuck might have taken notes.
Besides the fact that Chuck is prolific on Reddit where there might be a Kody. Don’t go over there, it’s not pretty. I made one short visit a while back.

The path to the decision to go to see Dr. Kang is interesting. The immediate recovery, not so much. It’s been discussed many times that it’s the long-term that really matters. Full recovery from any surgery takes month or years.

[Good intentions]

Time will tell. MarkK sounds a lot like the original Chuck. He asked the same questions and made the same vague statements, like Chuck and his personas do. See threads below.

As far as getting offended, I don’t see why a person would. Nobody really knows who anybody is on the internet. No reason to be offended. He’s getting responses to his questions and misstatements. And he starts a new thread when he wants to get some new people involved. It’s all working for him, fake or not.

For the record though, I would not share an email address or phone number with anybody on the internet. If any “chatting” is done, create a new email account that you can throw away if things get weird. Don’t share any personal details. Really, there’s no reason to have a personal “chat”, the open forum is the place to talk.

He just sounds like Chuck. Who knows. Maybe he’s getting tired of creating new personas and will behave for a while.

“…
Would enjoy chatting when you get back to the States. Where are you from?
…”

https://herniatalk.com/forums/topic/kodyh-kang-repair/#post-39692

https://herniatalk.com/forums/topic/opinons-re-shouldice-v-kang-repair/

KodyH Kang Repair

[David M]

Just my opinion and I could easily be wrong, but Dr Towfigh’s statement might have to do with both sides of the whack-a-mole interactions. When we start identifying honest posters as Chuck, we’ve added to the problem. We don’t want to be driving away helpful posters like Dr Kang because we’re being petty with each other.

• This reply was modified 7 months ago by  David M.

[Unknown Member]

I think I can speak for Kody and myself when I say that I am extremely offended by the continuing insinuation that I am a sock puppet. I am happy to prove my identity by any means necessary. I am simply here to learn and have not said anything to offend anyone. Maybe when I go to Kang for surgery he can vouch for me as well.

[Good intentions]

I wonder if there is some sort of AI based filtering software that is available. “Chuck” eventually shows through in the phrases and bad information. MarkK seems to be one. He was probably damaged before he ever got a hernia. It’s sad to see.

I suggest that there be warning posts in the new forum platform that let people know that there is this “virus” out there, trolling the site persistently. Tell people not to share any personal information with this person. There should also be a simple blocking function so that people don’t have to see any content, posts or messages, from people that they think are trolls. The blocking function is common across many forum software platforms.

[drtowfigh]

The whack-a-mole efforts are becoming extremely tiring.

[G]

What I find most entertaining about the puppet master’s show is when it creates multiple puppets conversing with each other. Hilarity ensues when unsuspecting “normies” take the aliases as real and join in the discussion. Unfortunately some people may take some of these puppet creations as real and thus have questionable data at their disposable. Caveat emptor.

[LC]

100%

[Mark H]

Hi @Max. I’ve written it out in notepad but currently trying to find the best way to submit the post so that it will be accepted. I’m not sure if I’ve used a trigger word that causes a block or if it’s just me the forum software doesn’t like! Time will tell.

• This reply was modified 6 months, 3 weeks ago by  Mark H.

[Max L]

Hi @mark-h. I’ve been following your thread and been anxiously waiting to hear about your surgery with Dr. Kang. I hope you are recovering well. Would you mind sharing your surgical experience abroad? I’m also dealing with an inguinal hernia, not sure direct or indirect. I am struggling with how to proceed in regards to surgeon and options. Thank you.

[drtowfigh]

Done.