Astroturfing Works

Was a study really needed to reach this conclusion? Astroturfing wouldn't be going on if it was not effective!

Well of course it works! Look at the tea party! It took a whole life of its own after being started as an astroturf project.

The Tea Party is an interesting example, I think. Whether or not it began with any kind of grass-roots support is a question answered differently by different people, but it did receive support from some very powerful people, and at least certain segments of the GOP jumped on board. Just my opinion here, but I think there was a good deal of opportunism at play, since those wanting power saw the Tea Party as a great way to get there.

Then we get to the interesting part. The Tea Party did become a successful movement, at least within the GOP, so successful that it took on a life of its own. Now it's become powerful enough that, instead of being a useful tool to get conservatives excited, it's become a force in its own right. It doesn't have enough support to influence national politics on its own, but it's powerful enough in the Republican Party that it can intimidate many Republicans into not defying it. How this plays out is anyone's guess, but some have predicted it could cause a party split, especially if the debt ceiling debate blows up in the Republicans' faces.

So, IMHO, the Tea Party is an interesting example of how an astroturf campaign can actually work too well. People actually bought in, and then the astroturf organization grew and grew and grew until it turned around, grabbed its "master", slammed him up against the wall, and told him who's boss now.

The Tea Party is controlled by the generation that doesn't understand what caused the the previous great depression, the US has had a great depression every 80 years.

»www.amazon.com/Fourth-Tu ··· 67900464

true, and the left never ever does it.

the prime example would be more of al sharpton group lobbying for comcast to acquire msnbc then in turn get a show out of it..

While your example is valid (things like that happen all the time, I'm afraid), it isn't an astroturf group. The definition of an astroturf group is a manufactured organization that masquerades as a grass-roots organization but is actually started by another organization to do its bidding.

As for the Tea Party, some would call it an astroturf group because there is a debate whether it was truly started by grass-roots individuals. Some say it was, but others claim that it was a creation of Fox News, the Koch brothers, and some other conservative organizations--that they created it, nurtured it financially, and then used it to drum up support for the GOP, which had just suffered a crushing defeat in the 2008 elections.

They really didn't need a study for this. Marketing courses in colleges have taught for decades that accurate facts have no bearing on the success or not of a marketing campaign. Just keep repeating over and over your points and a predictable % of your target audience will buy what you are pushing.

We know. You've done that for years.

Astroturfing is not repeating false talking points, though it does usually involve that. Astroturfing is 'a form of advocacy ... designed to give the appearance of a "grassroots" movement.' So if AT&T comes out and says that Net Neutrality causes cancer, that's not astroturfing. If they create an advocacy group called "Survivors Against Neutrality" that is purely funded and ran by themselves and other major industry players, then that would be astroturfing, even if the "advocacy" group stated nothing but facts.

the average person is quite dumb and gullible and won't check information given as fact

then theres the old saying if you repeat it enough then it must be true which some people seem to buy

Yet another ground breaking study from "Duh". It amazes me that people get paid to study the obvious or what is already known.

While the conclusion of this study may seem obvious, the study is needed: it lends scientific credence to the conclusion. In the scientific world no conclusion is credible without at least some study.

When individuals point out things as being obvious, it is expected (by some of those pointing it out) that it will become less interesting to others who didn't reach that conclusion on their own or were neutral on the subject. Just one of many tactics to influence another's psyche for personal, professional, or political gain.

So many people are so self conscience they don't even want to casually be the person who might take something interesting in a serious way, if it could lead to others thinking less of them. You could say it's a form of astroturfing on an individual scale and this site has more than a few stand outs.

Negative campaign ads work, too. Some people believe anything they hear on TV.

are good for you!
So are guns!
And booze!
Heck, light up, take a swig and shoot!
Support the ATF!

It's all out there now. Astroturf is Marketing is Advertising.

Some important things to keep in mind.

1) All ads have deceit as a core component.

disclaimer: I've come across some PSAs free of misleading content.

2) Every major election is decided by marketing.

3) People are manipulated by advertising because they wish to be.

result: We prefer dishonest politicians.

2nd result: Media wealth is generated by getting politicians elected.

NV

Maybe I missed something, but how does the study conclude that astroturf works? They took a group of people, showed a website with arguments, and found out that arguments make a difference. OK, I get it - but how does that relate to astroturf?

In order to see whether astroturf works, I would expect one group to look at the arguments presented by, say, Chevron; and another group look at the same arguments presented by "Concerned users of Coal City, WV". If there is a statistically significant difference - then astroturf works; otherwise, the argument works...

You can say the same about political topics (Tea Party, ObamaCare - take your pick), but I'd rather stay on the topic of the post

are stupid and believe what others tell them.

...most people who use the internet are imbeciles who will believe anything they read.

And if you're one of those people you will feel much better in the morning if you give me some money tonight.