1/14 *ASTROTURFING*
An important digital phenomenon that is often misunderstood and really important to understand so you can spot inauthentic content, platform manipulation, and potential misinformation. No space involved!
An important digital phenomenon that is often misunderstood and really important to understand so you can spot inauthentic content, platform manipulation, and potential misinformation. No space involved!
2/14 1st, what is astroturfing? It’s coordinated messaging meant to appear as grassroots opinion, and it exists allllll over the web in diff forms.
Astroturf = fake grass, so astroturfing = fake grassroots digital activity. Bots/actors pretending to be genuine people/accounts
Astroturf = fake grass, so astroturfing = fake grassroots digital activity. Bots/actors pretending to be genuine people/accounts
3/14 Examples: fake reviews on Amazon, inauthentic submissions to government consultations, and bots on social media platforms
(no social media platform is safe btw)
(no social media platform is safe btw)
4/14 A politician’s staff writing positive comments about their boss under a negative article about them, pretending to be a member of the public?
That’s astroturfing.
@AdamBienkov keeping it real all the way back in 2012: theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
That’s astroturfing.
@AdamBienkov keeping it real all the way back in 2012: theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
5/14 Accounts tweeting about British or American politics pretending to be British or American people when they’re actually Russian bots?
Astroturfing.
Astroturfing.
6/14 Note to above^ don’t always assume it’s the Russians - An Egypt-based campaign recently got caught working against Qatar, Iran, & Turkey. Great analysis @marcowenjones
English-speaking twitter =/= all of Twitter
English-speaking twitter =/= all of Twitter
7/14 Two key things to remember about astroturfing:
1st is that you CANNOT spot it as a regular user. The accounts LOOK normal, maybe a little suspicious, but you cannot confirm it either way without training & tools
1st is that you CANNOT spot it as a regular user. The accounts LOOK normal, maybe a little suspicious, but you cannot confirm it either way without training & tools
8/14
2nd point is that anyone can do it. Companies, individuals, politicians, governments can all astroturf - don't always assume it's the entity you think it is, that's part of the point of astroturfing - you don't know for sure.
2nd point is that anyone can do it. Companies, individuals, politicians, governments can all astroturf - don't always assume it's the entity you think it is, that's part of the point of astroturfing - you don't know for sure.
9/14 This is a situation to defer to experts like @noUpside @FSIStanford @kalenskyj @DisinfoPortal and others. An effective astroturfing campaign is practically impossible for an individual user to spot
10/14 So what do you do when you think an account might be inauthentic/an astroturf account?
You report it.
You report it.
11/14 Platforms also don’t like astroturfing/inauthentic content - it’s bad for their business, as bots/professional spammers don’t click on ads, mislead advertisers, and give the platforms a bad reputation, so reporting suspect accounts is a good, easy way to go
12/14 Astroturfing often operates at scale, which is why it’s so hard to spot - you’re just seeing one feed, one comment etc, when there’s thousands out there.
Don’t try and be mystic Meg, know your limitations - defer to expertise.
Don’t try and be mystic Meg, know your limitations - defer to expertise.
13/14 ‘But if I can’t spot astroturfing, how do I know to trust anyone?’
The answer is that you can’t be perfect, but you can be careful. You #ThinkBeforeYouShare, you don’t RT, and be wary of any account that frequently pushes a particular message
The answer is that you can’t be perfect, but you can be careful. You #ThinkBeforeYouShare, you don’t RT, and be wary of any account that frequently pushes a particular message
14/14 NEXT WEEK: BRIGADING!
Oh wait, one last thing! Astroturfing can happen offline too, whether it's a letter campaign, automated phone calls etc.
Don't limit your critical faculties to online 😉
Don't limit your critical faculties to online 😉
