Astroturfing: Real or Fake?

Hayley Love
hl303314@ohio.edu

Astroturfing is defined by The Guardian as “the attempt to create an impression of widespread grassroots support for a policy, individual, or product, where little such support exists.”

Personally, I had never heard of the concept, astroturfing, prior to this class. I was also surprised to learn that this is not a new concept. With growing technology and media, astroturfing is becoming more advanced. Most of the time, we don’t even realize that we are being tricked.


I did some research on this topic and was shocked to find that so many big companies were found guilty of astroturfing. McDonald's, Comcast, Ask.com, Exxon Mobile, and others can be found here. The company I want to discuss is Walmart. Walmart has been accused and found guilty of astroturfing several times. Walmart created a grassroots movement, these movements are so powerful because they reflect the will of the people. There's no filter, and no ulterior motive: just a natural, independent effort to force change.

https://www.wired.com/2012/11/walmart-embraces-showrooming/ 

Walmart was accused of creating a fake advocacy group titled, "Our Community. Our Choice." This group was created in support of opening a brand new Walmart store in a Chicago Metro Area in 2010. But, this isn't the first time Walmart has been accused. In 2006, Walmart was accused of paying bloggers to post direct quotes from the companies highest employees, essentially creating their own blogs in support of themselves. Walmart had promised these personal bloggers that they would receive exclusive nuggets of information that could not be found on the mainstream media. "Bloggers who agreed to receive the e-mail messages said they were eager to hear Walmart's side of the story, which they said they felt had been drowned out by critics, and were tantalized by the promise of exclusive news that might attract more visitors to their Web sites." (nytimes.com)


So, lets say that you are a blogger and you have been contacted by Walmart to blog on information that has not been released to the public yet, and will not be found anywhere else on the web. This will ultimately help your blog get more views, but also means that Walmart is taking over your blog. Would you still do it even if it is ethically wrong because it is considered astroturfing? Would you do it if you were offered money?


"The internet is a wonderful gift, but it's also a bonanza for corporate lobbyists, viral marketers and government spin doctors, who can operate in cyberspace without regulation, accountability or fear of detection." (The Guardian)


Astroturfing is real and alive in today's technology, what will you do to help yourself detect it before you are tricked into believing the fake media.