When things are extraordinarily divisive and hateful, a few things to remember.....things are not always as they seem.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Astroturf%2C+astroturfing"Creating the impression of public support for an organisation by paying people to act as if they're members of the public supporting the organisation. When really, the whole thing is staged.
For online posts, creating these false public identities can be as easy as signing up for a free email account and creating a fake name, however for newspapers and writing to Attorneys a more complete identity must be made. In the case of Microsoft, it's involved using the identities of dead people.
The name astroturfing for false public opinion is a joke on the term for genuine public opinion of "grass roots" support for an issue."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_sock_puppetA sock puppet describes an additional account created by an existing member of an Internet community, sometimes to manufacture the illusion of support in a vote or argument. Other reasons include a desire to support or vote on an issue coupled with a desire to have one's "main" account stay away from the issue. This behaviour is sometimes seen as being dishonest by online communities and as a result these individuals are often labeled as trolls.
Another type of sock puppet is sometimes referred to as a “straw man sock puppet.” They are created by users with one point of view, but act as though they have an opposing point of view, in order to make that point of view look bad. They will often make poor arguments which their “opponents” can then easily refute. This can allow them to essentially make straw man arguments. Such sock puppets thus become a personification of the straw man argument which their creators argue against. They often act unintelligent or uninformed, and may behave in an overtly bigoted manner. The effect is often to obfuscate the debate and prevent a serious discussion of the arguments from each side. Suspicion of such sock puppets is often harder to verify though, as there are often people who naturally behave in such a manner with the same effects.
http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/A/astroturfing.htmlastroturfing: n.
1. The use of paid shills to create the impression of a popular movement, through means like letters to newspapers from soi-disant ‘concerned citizens’, paid opinion pieces, and the formation of grass-roots lobbying groups that are actually funded by a PR group (AstroTurf is fake grass; hence the term). See also sock puppet, tentacle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AstroturfingAstroturfing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In American politics and advertising, the term astroturfing pejoratively describes formal public relations projects which deliberately seek to engineer the impression of spontaneous public reactions to a politician or political grouping, product, service, event, etc. by many diverse and distributed individuals acting of their own volition, when in fact the efforts are centrally coordinated.
The term, said to have first been used in this context by former Senator Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas), is wordplay based on "grassroots" efforts, which are truly spontaneous undertakings, largely sustained by private persons (and not politicians, government, corporations, or public relations firms). "AstroTurf" refers to the bright green artificial grass used in some sports stadiums.
Astroturfing is carefully designed to appear as though it is the result of popular feeling, rather than a coordinated campaign, perhaps by spin doctors, or through a front organization.
Examples of these kinds of practices can be found throughout recent political history. Some might suggest that the campaigning techniques of certain non-governmental organizations also embrace aspects of astroturfing.
http://www.greenmediatoolshed.org/training/MediaTrends/AstroTurfing.adpAstroturfing - Fake Grassroots Media Outreach
"There has been an explosion of interest in the idea of "Astroturfing". Astroturfing is using technology and mass communication tricks to artificially create the appearance of a grassroots movement supporting a position.
Additionally, there has been a rapid growth of companies that specialize in artificially creating the appearance of a grassroots movement. The larger problem for the movement is that as the costs of these services drop, the impact of genuine grassroots work is cheapened. (ie...weighing letters or simply counting call volume). "
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