KPopHtr
KPopHtr sockpuppet investigation
editMoving this explanation here, per Mz7's [request] (cc Blablubbs and GeneralNotability). Thank you for explaining the correct protocol as I thought I could enter this in the "comments by other users" section on the investigation page and didn't realize I could still edit this talk page. I am fine waiting out the original block time, but would like to request that my account moving forward be Param3ter2 not KPopHtr as explained in point 6 below.
Point 8 discusses the other user, Ew3234 involved here. Their user contributions and the fact that they [stated] they previously worked for United Way indicates that they may have a COI on United Way topics. Tagging NightWolf1223, given Ew3234’s request to continue editing Brian Gallagher.
Oshwah, I misguidedly created a new account, Param3ter2.1, to explain myself but have now moved the discussion here. Param3ter2 and KPopHtr are both my accounts; see timeline and explanation below. No association with Snoopidood.
1. I saw the author of the HuffPost reporting tweet about the Brian Gallagher Wikipedia page.
2. I went to Brian Gallagher looked at the edit history and noticed accounts with seeming COI both adding false and overly detailed information and removing all information.
3. One of these accounts which was created right before their first edits was KPopLvr.
- They [incorrectly stated] that Gallagher was the former CEO when he had not yet resigned and they reverted this edit several times.
- They cited links to HuffPost reporting on the subject which had been filed to Politics by that outlet itself calling into the question the objectivity of the reporting rather than links to neutral AP.
4. Another ip user 96.241.164.97 was located in Alexandria, VA and was removing all mention of the reporting. This seems likely to be someone associated with United Way Worldwide.
5. I created KPopHtr in response to this biased back-and-forth to try keep true and necessary info. My [first edit] was to update the language so that it didn't misleadingly seem that Gallagher was accused of sexual harassment.
6. I created another account, Param3ter2. In case I wanted to use it to continue editing other Wikipedia articles I didn't want it to have been created in response to a particular account as KPopHtr was. This experience has definitely made me more interested in helping to ensure neutrality on articles and I want to help with that once this is resolved.
- With this account I [clarified] that allegations against Gallagher were of retaliation in response to alleged sexual harassment claims against others.
- In my [next edit] over a month later I removed the detail on the allegations, but left the AP links cited in the line about the resignation. This is because there had been no additional reporting on the matter and no determination by the EEOC that retaliation actually occurred. I also [updated a citation] that was no longer working as it pointed to an internal United Way page about the CEO.
7. I will admit that I did then get into an edit war with Ew3234 who not only restored my prior version that had been up for a month with an appropriate level of detail, but also added unnecessary detail in the form of [the exact dates] of announcing resignation and of the resignation, links to political reporting, and [quotations] from only one individual associated with the claims, Lisa Bowman.
8. My account Param3ter2 was then blocked, but I didn't feel comfortable letting Ew3234's version stand.
- I began editing with KPopHtr again and decided to take a different approach of [adding even more detail] since if Lisa Bowman was quoted and mentioned then perhaps the nature of her allegations should be as well.
- These edits seem to have been reported by Ew3234 and I decided to calmly discuss with them on the Brian Gallagher talk page.
- While we did eventually reach a consensus to leave the information relevant to Gallagher on that page and add more detail on the United Way Worldwide page their tone was very argumentative and in their [last comment] they noted that they used to work at a local United Way ~16 years ago. During this time Gallagher was the CEO at United Way of America so it's not unreasonable to think that Ew3234 may have a vested interest here.
- To further support that, the Ew3234 account was only created last year and while they have edited other articles they have spent a disproportionate amount of time on the United Way Worldwide, United Way and Brian Gallagher pages.
- Recently, their [edit to the Brian Gallagher page] that got reverted was made because they [updated the language] in the EEOC Claims section header that I added to the United Way Worldwide page to make it more salacious and tried to link to it on the citations for Brian Gallagher page.
- They have also made recent edits to the United Way page that use the same [misleading language], not stating which claims were against who though they noted in a [previous discussion] that they understood why we may want to avoid this to ensure clarity.
- Recently, their [edit to the Brian Gallagher page] that got reverted was made because they [updated the language] in the EEOC Claims section header that I added to the United Way Worldwide page to make it more salacious and tried to link to it on the citations for Brian Gallagher page.
- To further support that, the Ew3234 account was only created last year and while they have edited other articles they have spent a disproportionate amount of time on the United Way Worldwide, United Way and Brian Gallagher pages.
- While we did eventually reach a consensus to leave the information relevant to Gallagher on that page and add more detail on the United Way Worldwide page their tone was very argumentative and in their [last comment] they noted that they used to work at a local United Way ~16 years ago. During this time Gallagher was the CEO at United Way of America so it's not unreasonable to think that Ew3234 may have a vested interest here.
- These edits seem to have been reported by Ew3234 and I decided to calmly discuss with them on the Brian Gallagher talk page.
To conclude, I want to move on from this but did want to provide the whole back story. KPopHtr (talk) 15:35, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
User Name
editHi Oshwah, with my block about to expire, can I please request that my account/user name going forward be Param3ter2 rather than KPopHtr? KPopHtr (talk) 15:01, 2 May 2021 (UTC)
- Hi KPopHtr! Sure, I'll have that done for you shortly. When this change occurs, make sure to log in using your new username and not your old one. Otherwise, you'll receive a "bad username or password" error. :-) ~Oshwah~(talk) (contribs) 20:54, 6 May 2021 (UTC)
- That username is taken. Did you create an account with this username? ~Oshwah~(talk) (contribs) 20:57, 6 May 2021 (UTC)
- Perfect, thanks! I did already create that account; it was blocked as part of this investigation. I was hoping to keep that one and block KPopHtr as a duplicate instead. Is that possible or do I need to create a completely new username? KPopHtr (talk) 22:10, 6 May 2021 (UTC)
- Oshwah, adding tag as I left it out of my earlier reply. KPopHtr (talk) 01:17, 7 May 2021 (UTC)
- Just redirect the user and user talk page of this account to the new account and use the other account moving forward. You only have 32 edits on this one... Not a big deal. :-) ~Oshwah~(talk) (contribs) 02:35, 7 May 2021 (UTC)
- Oshwah, adding tag as I left it out of my earlier reply. KPopHtr (talk) 01:17, 7 May 2021 (UTC)
- Perfect, thanks! I did already create that account; it was blocked as part of this investigation. I was hoping to keep that one and block KPopHtr as a duplicate instead. Is that possible or do I need to create a completely new username? KPopHtr (talk) 22:10, 6 May 2021 (UTC)
- That username is taken. Did you create an account with this username? ~Oshwah~(talk) (contribs) 20:57, 6 May 2021 (UTC)