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Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

stylometry.net

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Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#261

Post by dragonwriter »

rand_user_100 wrote: post #218

On one hand, thank you for showing us all how easy it is to make something like this. No doubt organizations with more resources already have more sophisticated systems in the same vein. On the other hand, can we agree that this product is unethical? In many cases, when a person uses an alt, it is a direct and strong signal that they do not wish their other posts to be associated. So this product is circumventing the…

> On the other hand, can we agree that this product is unethical?

No.

Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#262

Post by rejectfinite »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #254

How much should we fear de-anonymisation ? A lot of discussion on the thread are over "how can we prevent this". I would like to know why should we not embrace this and similar technologies? The benefits in my view are large - online behaviour tracks back to real life - and epidemiology speaking the value of millions of test subjects across every question are invaluable - from traditional medicine to "mass psychology…

>online behaviour tracks back to real life

This is good to you?

Okay, let's just make it like China or SK where your login is your citizen ID and if you write bad things the bad word police will take you away.

Also, no, I have no alts.

Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#264

Post by Dma54rhs »

costco wrote: post #106
rmelhem wrote: post #90

nice one. are you using gpt3 under the hood?

I'm not that smart - my site is basically just doing some calculations on word frequencies. You can read https://academic.oup.com/dsh/article-abstract/17/3/267/92927... and https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09296174.2011.53... and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33755898 for more information.

Its easy to write complicated systems, it takes a genius to make it simple.

Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#265

Post by fbdab103 »

rcarr wrote: post #158

This is somewhat similar to how they ended up catching the Unabomber. The FBI were literally at a dead end. They ended up posting one of his letters/manifestos in the paper, somebody recognised a turn of phrase the unabomber used that was unusual and reported it as possibly being their brother, FBI investigated the lead and it lead them straight to him. Excerpts from wiki: > Before the publication of Industrial Socie…

So is the lesson you should have GPT rewrite your manifesto so as to obscure your personal idioms?

Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#266

Post by bhaney »

klohto wrote: post #240
bhaney wrote: post #177

Well now I'm self conscious about my closest match being an 0.34 when so many other people are reporting much closer matches with accounts that aren't alts. Do I write weirdly?

0.36 here! Out of curiosity, are you a native speaker?

I am, yes.

Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#268

Post by CharlesW »

birdyrooster wrote: post #172

Quoted post unavailable.

Not to diminish one bit how you're feeling, but the bright side is: Today you know this is easily done (information you didn't have yesterday), that the creator had no intention of "outing" you specifically, and that you can take steps to obfuscate this specific aspect of your posts that connects your public alts.

Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#269

Post by DrStrangeLoop »

I tried dang's old account (gruseom) expecting to see his dang account listed. Nothing. Tried dang, sctb (a previous admin) was listed as closest match.

I wouldn't rely on these results

https://stylometry.net/user?username=gruseom

https://stylometry.net/user?username=dang

Re: Show HN: Using stylometry to find HN users with alternate accounts

#270

Post by sdwr »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #186
VyseofArcadia wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but the cat’s out of the boot It's my first time hearing that variant. Usually its, "the cat's out of the bag" where I'm from. Do you mean boot in the UK sense, what Americans would call the trunk of a car? Or do you mean a sturdy piece of footwear? Obligatory xkcd https://xkcd.com/2390/

It’s a little writing trick I leaned from (I think) Orwell. Any time you’re about to use a common metaphor, try to tweak it. You’ll catch readers off guard, which piques their curiosity. It’s a fun game, too. I wish I’d used “the cat’s out of the hat,” but I didn’t think of it till later.

I love doing this too, it's fun to write.
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