According to the Financial Times website, astroturfing is, “A technique that gets its name from the practice of generating fake grassroots enthusiasm.” This is one area where PR gets its bad rep. Basically, companies are paying bloggers to blog about their product–whether or not these bloggers actually used said product. This is extremely dangerous for companies, and PR practitioners.
Most of us PR students are taught the value of honesty when promoting a company, person, organization, or what have you. Although most of us have not ventured out into the “real” PR world, we expect that most other practitioners also value truth when practicing.
With the Internet booming as it is, astroturfing can be very dangerous to those who do it. It sends the wrong messages to consumers, and can cause a giant uproar when consumers find out that a company is astroturfing. If you want to promote your company, do so ethically. If you want to blog about your product, add links to other sites that have a common interest with your product. For example, if I wanted to promote a new line of hybrid cars, I would post links to websites that talk about environmental sustainability.
If your product is good, consumers will talk about it. You don’t need to pay people to blog about your product–this will happen if you are properly targeting your audience and promoting your product to that audience.
