What is Astroturfing?
The Webster dictionary defines astroturfing as:
"Organized activity that is intended to create a false impression of a widespread, spontaneously arising, grassroots movement in support or opposition to something (such as a political party) but that is in reality initiated and controlled by a concealed group or organization (such as a corporation)."
Let's break it down.
The internet is here to stay, so corporations are constantly looking to optimize it. A positive online presence with great reviews and countless supporters allows corporations and/or political parties to create a sense of comfort with potential supporters.
When the positive comments are not coming from the corporation they seem more honest, because why would a random commenter lie? Typically when astroturfing is being done it is because the desires of the corporation/political party do not match the desires of the public. This is why astroturfing can be very negative. Astroturfing has been around for a long time and even existed in newspapers before the internet, but as the internet expands and new software is developed it is becoming increasingly difficult to spot.
The increase in astroturfing is also a result of blogs and social media sites such as Twitter allowing everyone to have a voice and express their opinions. Due to the government/corporations not always being able to censor these posts, the easier option for them seems to be crowding out the opposition with grassroots movements. Corporations and political parties use astroturfing to build up their own reputations but they also use astroturfing to tear down the reputations of competitors.
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| Image Source: ProxyPreview |
This image is an amazing visual aid for astroturfing because it illustrates the 'underground' aspect of it. Corporations pay grassroots movements to embellish the support they hold from the public. When these payments are not made public or done under the table like the image above shows it can create legal, financial, and reputational risks.
A negative example of astroturfing could be that if a person decides to support a political candidate due to the flood of comments in support of said politician, then comes to find out those comments were placed to deceive them they could feel betrayed and withdraw their support.
I think astroturfing can be seen as both a positive and negative. In some ways, I could potentially see it creating better environments from employers who face bad working conditions, which could allow the company to change. In other ways, mostly looking at political agendas, I think it could be very negative. I say this because a corporation could be supported, but because of a few whistleblowers representing 70 plus personas, could ruin a corporation, especially if majority of the public supported it. So , I see both sides, especially when it comes to social media and allows for expression, but also allows for many people to not be who they say they are. Nice article!
ReplyDeleteThis past year, I have noticed many things on Amazon I have ordered and sent back has thousands of positive reviews. After receiving the item and realizing it is nothing like what was described or pictured, I would recheck the reviews only to realize many of them sounded vague and phony, many unverified. I have spent a great deal more time investigating reviews on items now before I by them.
ReplyDelete