Astroturfing is a form of advocacy in support of apolitical, organizational, or corporate agenda, designed to give the appearance of a "grassroots" movement. The goal of such campaigns is to disguise the efforts of a political or commercial entityas an independent public reaction to another political entity—a politician, political group, product, service or event. The term is a derivation of AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass.
Like other advocates, astroturfers attempt tomanipulate public opinion by both overt (outreach awareness, etc.) and covert (disinformation) means. Astroturfing may be undertaken by an individual promoting a personal agenda, or by organized professional groups for pay, or by activist organizations. Services may be provided by political consultants who also provide opposition researchand other services. Beneficiaries are not the campaigners but the organizations that orchestrate the campaigns.
~KM
I thought astroturf was that stuff on football fields, I had no idea it'd
turned into a verb!
bj
-----Original Message-----
From: Just Murray
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 1:55 PM
To: iPad@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [iPad] Hello Every Body
Interesting info is how spammers operate these days. Google astroturfing.
