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I have a large suspicion of a proposal being cheated on by having fake accounts follow it, create questions, and up-vote the questions. I already flagged it for moderator attention, but I was curious if this is automatically checked on Area 51 like on the other SE sites.

This meta post confirms that Stack Exchange handles cheating with fake accounts:

That is usually referred to as sock puppet accounts, and yes, Stack Exchange does have measures to prevent them from doing any real harm.

However, since the Area 51 site seems to work differently than the standard Stack Exchange sites, is this also done here?

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  • I can't speak on behalf of what goes on behind the scenes, but this MSE post is worth noting. It could be possible that what you suspect is cheating is legitimate behavior as was the case there
    – JohnB
    Jan 29, 2016 at 16:55
  • Yes, this could have been the case, that's why I asked if this is checked automatically (using the IP for example).
    – agold
    Jan 29, 2016 at 17:13
  • If we're thinking of the same recently-closed proposal, you might have been on to something—12 upvotes on my question pointing out that it was a duplicate were recently erased.
    – Dan Getz
    Jan 29, 2016 at 18:49
  • Yes it was that one!
    – agold
    Jan 29, 2016 at 19:04

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I don't actually know how much of the advanced automation leaks through from the on-going improvement of Stack Exchange. Even though the code of Area 51 was forked off long ago, parts of the system are still run by the core engine itself. Look at your Area 51 profile for example; all the wiz-bang stuff is there. Same for much of the Discussion system.

There are certainly Moderator-specific features that were simplified in the main Q&A, but for the most part, the pieces I need are here and I can get to them. And considering the relatively low-volume of activity that runs through here, that is usually more than enough.

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