I got 2 private notices at Wikipedia from

[frogmarch]

a couple of people I don’t know who told me to stop editing Wiki articles to add info about Bernie Sanders.

I have never, ever, edited a Wiki article, so what happened, and what can I do about it?

I had gone to Wiki to look up some info about the Netherlands, and there it was - a bright red "You have new emails" icon at the top of the page. I clicked it and read the messages telling me to stop editing articles if I didn't have anything worthwhile to add.

I couldn't find anyplace where I could respond. Should I let it go, or what?

[Exilednight]

1. Do you have a wiki screen name?

[frogmarch]

4. No, I don't. I just read at Wiki sometimes.

That's all.

I don't talk politics with anyone in real life and I don't online either, except here at DU, and I'm not buddies with any DUers.

The IP they were directing the messages to is in Scottsbluff, NE, and I don't live there.

I don't get it.

[JaneyVee]

6. Was it an advertisement you clicked?

[frogmarch]

8. No. It was a red icon at the top of the page and

when I clicked it, the whole top half of the messages (both messages were on that page) was in code of some kind, and the bottom half contained the notices.

I'm a hermit and don't see anyone or talk to anyone but one close friend every once in a while (who isn't into politics), and my husband and kids. None of them would never do that.

[Exilednight]

7. If you're running TOR, that could explain it. Other than that, someone is ghosting your IP address.

[Carewfan]

2. Most likely from a IP address

that you shared with a Bernie supporter at one point....

[Exilednight]

3. Or possibly if they are running TOR

[frogmarch]

11. I don't know what that is.

I'll look it up. Thanks.

[Exilednight]

13. If you don't know what is, you're not running it. It's a special browser.

[Recursion]

16. Residential DHCP leases are getting shorter, I've noticed

10 years ago they would turn over once every quarter or so; now it seems to be weekly.

[JaneyVee]

5. On your wikipedia account?

[frogmarch]

10. I don't have one.

That's what is bugging me. I have Google and gmail and also You Tube through Google and Facebook, but that is all.

[LeftyMom]

9. Somebody else in your household maybe?

[frogmarch]

12. It's just mr. froggy and me and

the dogs. mr. froggy doesn't use the computer except to play with his flight simulator to practice for his RC flying. He thinks computers are the anti-Christ. Kidding, but he hates computers and has never gone online or even used email.

[840high]

14. Let it go for now.

[frogmarch]

17. Yeah, not much I can do about it.

Maybe I should sign up at Wiki and go ahead and start editing articles.

[Recursion]

15. It can happen based on your IP address

If you have residential cable or DSL, you and your neighbors can end up swapping IP addresses every so often.

It's a good reason, if you edit articles, to make a username and use it instead.

[frogmarch]

18. Oh, wow, I had no idea

that could ever happen.

I'll keep it in mind about a username. Sound advice. Thanks!

[frogmarch]

19. Last night I decided to register at Wiki

Last edited Sun May 31, 2015, 10:38 AM - Edit history (2)

so I’d have a username to help ensure I wouldn’t be mistaken for someone else, and I noticed an email address for the Help desk. I sent an email telling them of my problem, and this morning I received a reply.

> Why did I receive two private messages at Wiki telling me to stop editing articles
> and putting in info to promote Bernie Sanders? I am not a Wiki subscriber and I
> have never, ever, edited a Wikipedia article. Also, I haven’t yet picked a
> presidential candidate to support and I do not live in Scottsbluff, NE, which the
> two people named as my IP.
>
> How do I make it stop?
>
> Thank you.

~~

It looks like you're accessing Wikipedia from a shared or dynamic IP address <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_IP_address>. A shared IP address may be used by many users from a school, business, or geographic region. A user with a dynamic IP address has a slightly different numeric address each time signing on. This is a very common practice among some ISPs. Over time, a large number of people may have used the same IP address.

Since Wikipedia is a site that anyone can edit, sometimes people make inappropriate edits, and in that case other editors need to leave messages for them. Unfortunately, because you share that IP address, you will also see that comment, as we cannot single out that one user to receive the message.

Because of this problem, we put a notice on the talk page to explain that messages may refer to other users, and that if the message does not apply to you, then you can simply ignore the comment.

If you do not wish to see these misdirected messages you may wish to make an account, even if you never use it for editing. This will give you a personal talk page and will prevent such misdirected messages. You can create an account at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Userlogin&type=signup>.

You don't need to log in to edit, but creating an account gives you more options and helps you keep track of your contributions.

You do not need to enter any personal information to make an account, although you do have to have cookies enabled. If you select the "Remember me" option on logging in, you will be logged in automatically each time you visit the site from the same computer.

If you find your account blocked, please follow the instructions you see in the block message, which you will see when you try to edit a page; it will tell you how to contact an administrator to ask to be unblocked.

I'm sorry that you were inconvenienced by this problem, and hope you continue using Wikipedia. You can learn more about our site and how it works at the Introduction page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Introduction

You may also find the tutorial useful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial

Thanks for contacting us, and I hope this was of help.
Yours sincerely,
Nigel Pepper

~~~~

(Edited to correct the spelling of "register" in the subject line. )

[fadedrose]

22. Oh Wow

Ignore my silly post, you already found some help. I hadn't read any of the responses to your problem.

But stay with it. I'm pro-Bernie, but it looks bad for him if posters who add material for him are not who they claim to be.

[frogmarch]

26. I agree it doesn't help him when

people do that. It wouldn't surprise me if the culprit doing it at Wiki is a republican trying to turn people away from Bernie.

[fadedrose]

28. That's exactly what I thought

Or someone supporting someone else, who has or has not yet announced....some people will stoop to anything.

It could even be someone who knows you like Bernie and is doing him a favor...they shoulda told you though.

The other thing I was curious about is - are the things added by your email true or untrue?

I don't think you'll find out. But I love mysteries. Keep us posted.

Try cali anyway, I wish I could remember the DU poster who works there - Tom something maybe. Not sure.

[frogmarch]

30. I've registered at Wiki, and

I'll just let it go now, but if it happens again, I'll have to try to get to the bottom of it.

If it's someone who thinks they're doing Bernie (or me) a favor, they need to get a clue.

I love mysteries too, but not when they involve me!

[MH1]

23. Good, I agree that having an account there is the right approach.

For a time I was active in editing Wikipedia articles and am vaguely aware of these types of issues. "Create an account" was the advice I would have given you.

Although funny, I have never seen those type of messages and I access wikipedia a lot, but anonymously these days as I haven't edited anything in years. So I would be prone to also getting those messages due to shared dynamic IP. I guess you were just unlucky to have someone else on the same ip address who was making inappropriate edits.

[frogmarch]

29. It was the first time I've ever

had it happen to me, and it kind of freaked me out. I read at Wiki once or twice a week, but until now I hadn't considered registering. Now I'm registered, by golly!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

24. Just be thankful your shared IP user isn't threatening The President...

... or looking at child porn.

[frogmarch]

25. Yikes! No kidding!

I hadn't thought of that!

[DanTex]

33. Well, that isn't so much something to worry about.

When it comes to something criminal like that, the police or FBI will get in touch with internet service providers and find out exactly who had what IP address at what time. Wikipedia doesn't do that, in fact, they can't, because they can't issue warrants since they are a private organization. So they just go by IP address, which sometimes ends up with things like what happened to you.

[frogmarch]

34. Whew. That is

good to know!

Thanks for the information.

[think]

27. Good to hear you got a full reply.

Thank you for sharing.

I've had the same thing happen to me recently where I got the red letter warning in regards to editing some Wiki entry I've never heard of about Red Hulk. The shared IP address answer makes sense but is still disturbing.

[frogmarch]

36. Yes, it is disturbing.

I'd never heard of such a thing happening to anyone, so I didn't know what to make of it.

I hope it never happens again to either of us!

[Orrex]

20. I was once scolded by Wiki for enhancing the entry for "Left Behind"

"Vandalism" they called it. Feh!

[frogmarch]

35. They had some noive!

[fadedrose]

21. Was the information pro or against Bernie?

Against would lead to opponents of his in the coming election...

For would lead to supporters of his...

Also, it wouldn't necessarily be connected with DU, unless the people in charge provided this stuff, which I sincerely pray is not the case.

Must be somebody you know who has your email.

Don't drop it though. They are not friends.

Oh, I just remembered, there's somebody whose name I can't remember that cali says is very reliable and works at Widkipedia...they post here...maybe she can help.

[octoberlib]

31. His name is JimLane , I believe

[fadedrose]

32. That's it!! ..JimLane...Thanks

Maybe frogmarch should make a post with this name in the title to draw his attention.