"Astroturfing" refers to a type of propaganda that pretends to be "grassroots" ("Astroturf" being the name of a brand of fake grass used to make football fields). The propagandists pretend to be ordinary people without disclosing their affiliation.
For example, you are more likely to see a movie recommended by a viewer reviews vs. a recommendation by an entertainment magazine. Movie companies know this, so they send out people pretending to be normal users on websites to give positive reviews. The difference between MGM's Twitter account and MGM's astroturfing is users are aware the official account belongs to MGM.
Governments use astroturfing all the time to sway public opinion on social media. They don't disclose their government association because other users would become suspicious of their opinions. But if they think their neighbor Bob has those opinions? They're more receptive to it.
Landlords are the types who think "You can't bullshit a bullshitter" and then fall for bullshit. They'll think they're clever for posting a multiple sock puppet accounts to say good things about themselves and not realize there are multiple people/organizations doing the same thing.
Basically, nothing you see on the internet is real, especially on r*ddit lol. Hell, stuff like the Tea Party Movement was astroturfing by Koch Industries.
"Astroturfing" refers to a type of propaganda that pretends to be "grassroots" ("Astroturf" being the name of a brand of fake grass used to make football fields). The propagandists pretend to be ordinary people without disclosing their affiliation.
For example, you are more likely to see a movie recommended by a viewer reviews vs. a recommendation by an entertainment magazine. Movie companies know this, so they send out people pretending to be normal users on websites to give positive reviews. The difference between MGM's Twitter account and MGM's astroturfing is users are aware the official account belongs to MGM.
Governments use astroturfing all the time to sway public opinion on social media. They don't disclose their government association because other users would become suspicious of their opinions. But if they think their neighbor Bob has those opinions? They're more receptive to it.
Landlords are the types who think "You can't bullshit a bullshitter" and then fall for bullshit. They'll think they're clever for posting a multiple sock puppet accounts to say good things about themselves and not realize there are multiple people/organizations doing the same thing.
Basically, nothing you see on the internet is real, especially on r*ddit lol. Hell, stuff like the Tea Party Movement was astroturfing by Koch Industries.