Word of the Day
September 15, 2022
Astroturfing
The practice of masking the sponsors of a message or organization to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported by grassroots participants; fake grassroots political or advertising campaigns.
Coined in 1985 by U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen, contrasting artificial 'AstroTurf' grass with genuine 'grassroots' movements. The term references the synthetic turf brand to suggest manufactured rather than authentic public sentiment.
Usage Examples
- The political action committee engaged in astroturfing by deploying thousands of bots to simulate widespread public support for the legislation.
- Social media platforms struggle to detect astroturfing campaigns that use automated accounts to amplify partisan messages.
- What appeared to be organic outrage over the policy was actually astroturfing funded by corporate interests.
From the Show
The mechanics of astroturfing dominated Dr. Jill Vecchio’s September 15th analysis of how organizations like DemCast deploy automated bots to simulate public consensus on social media.