Forum:Policy on shared accounts?

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Is there a Wikia policy on shared accounts? Several users on The Hunger Games wiki have started doing this, which I am construing as sockpuppeting. However they are not using the shared accounts to evade any bans or blocks. I am concerned though that more users will start doing this. Local forum discussion is here. BrokenSphere (Talk) 21:16, July 20, 2012 (UTC)

http://www.wikia.com/Terms_of_Use#Membership applies in this case. Specifically, it says:

• If you choose to register for membership, in consideration of your use of the Site, you agree to maintain the security of your password and identification and to be fully responsible for all use of your account and for any actions that take place using your account.

Allowing multiple people to share the same account is to be discouraged. Not only does it violate the TOU agreement, but it's also a very unwise idea. To Wikia and all Wikia wikis, the account is the person. For example, if an account is blocked, then all users of that account are blocked. There are no exceptions such as "wait, I didn't do it, that was someone else on my account!" -- it's impossible to verify such a claim. Accounts should not be shared under any circumstances. Even married couples should use separate accounts. Mathmagician ƒ(♫) 21:27 UTC, Fri, 20 July 2012

I wouldn't be so quick to jump to that conclusion. I don't really see much wrong with this, and they seem to have a legitimate reason as long as they notify the admins. The Terms of Use do seem to suggest an individual - but I'll tag staff needed on this, because it's not something that's done maliciously -- RandomTime 21:31, July 20, 2012 (UTC)

Haha, are there any married couples editing on Wikia? :P --Category:Acer4666 22:49, July 20, 2012 (UTC)

I think you're confused. Multiple users using the same account is not within the definition of the word "sockpuppeting". "sockpuppeting" is when one user uses multiple accounts to post replies agreement with themselves. (edit: see Wikipedia's sockpuppet article for a more complete definition.)

The "Terms_of_Use#Membership" section quoted above does not explicitly forbid multiple users sharing an account, as the "security of your password" is not compromised by two people sharing it. "Security" does not mean "secrecy". Posting your password online would definitely be compromising the security of your account.

I believe the intent of that TOU passage is to place all responsibility on the "owner" of the account, so that they cannot vandalise, and then claim "it wasn't me". (As mentioned above.) It doesn't say they can't share, but it says that they accept all responsibility if they do share.

If the intent of the TOU is to forbid multiple users using the same account, then it needs to be rewritten to be less ambiguous. (Edit: As an aside, wikipedia explicitly forbids shared accounts)

There is also nothing in the TOU about individuals creating multiple accounts. However, there's nothing to stop individual Wikis from creating their own policies about "shared accounts" and "multiple accounts".

--452 01:45, July 21, 2012 (UTC)

Well to my knowledge the users using the shared accounts have not recently been banned from chat or blocked from editing. In the event of either happending and were they to use the shared account to evade a chat ban or editing block, then that would cross the line into sockpuppeting.

And the reason I'm asking here is that searching CC brings up nothing about shared accounts. Maybe it wasn't an issue before? BrokenSphere (Talk) 03:40, July 21, 2012 (UTC)

Yes, using a different account to evade a ban is within the definition of "sockpuppeting". Although I can't find anything in the TOU about evading a ban. The only thing I can see is "You agree not to use the Service to attempt to impersonate another user or person", so if people were evading a ban while saying they are someone else would be against the TOU, or if users were sharing an account and claiming they were a single person.

Yes, as far as I can tell, users sharing accounts is not an issue. --452 03:51, July 21, 2012 (UTC)

Excellent and thoughtful discussion on this topic. I can confirm some of the statements that have been made:

• Two people sharing an account is not considered sockpuppeting
• The Terms of Use is not meant to forbid two people from sharing the same account; Wikia would not consider the security of a password compromised if two people are sharing the same account
• If two people are sharing an account, the account is still considered to be one user, and should be treated as such is situations involving violation of wiki policies or Wikia Terms of Use (i.e. one of the people can't seek absolution for themselves or the account by claiming "it wasn't me")

Following on that last item, Wikia discourages sharing user accounts in order to avoid overcomplicating wiki policy or Terms of Use violations that might be committed by the account in question. User accounts are easy to create and free, there is no reason why a user account would need to be shared. BertH (help forum | blog) 22:29, July 26, 2012 (UTC)