The BBC notes that China is practising
astroturfing on an industrial scale, and it points to one worrying future of social media:
Comments, rumours and opinions can be quickly spread between internet groups in a way that makes it hard for the government to censor. So instead of just trying to prevent people from having their say, the government is also attempting to change they way they think. To do this, they use specially trained - and ideologically sound - internet commentators.
They have been dubbed the "50-cent party" because of how much they are reputed to be paid for each positive posting (50 Chinese cents; $0.07; £0.05).
Estimates range from several tens of thousands to up to 300,000 people involved. Astroturfing of course is nothing new, but Datamation notes that this scale difference has
four key impacts:
First, is scale. A typical astroturfing campaign might involve a few or maybe a dozen people at most. Or, in the case of a mass mailing, it could involve thousands of people who voice or submit their opinions only once or twice. China's approach involves thousands of times more people.
The second difference is duration. China's 50 Cent Army works every day, all year, year after year. Astroturfing efforts, on the other hand, are one-off projects designed to achieve specific, limited goals. The reason is that a free press and the machinations of multi-party democracy quickly expose astroturfing projects and turn public opinion against their agendas. Because the Chinese government is accountable to neither the public nor the press, it can sustain Internet mass-propaganda efforts indefinitely.
Third, China's 50 Cent Army, when used abroad, hits people who aren't expecting it. When a political group in the US fakes a grass roots movement, it does so in an environment where people are skeptical and have their guards up. But most people in the West have no idea that China is constantly swaying public opinion on the Internet, and tend to accept what they see at face value.
And finally, China's degree of organization far exceeds any known effort elsewhere. The government's Culture Ministry reportedly trains and even certificates Web propagandists. It’s run like a professional organization.
This is clearly the emerging Future of Social Influence, and will be teh biggest Whuffie Factor in years to come. Its an obvious and effective way of driving false social graph results. As the "Web 2.0" world gains in reach and economic importance, we expect to see far more of it - outsourced to India, automated, paid for by large corporates, pressure groups, governments (especially those at war or in various levels of conflict.).
In essence this is the emerging shape of Propaganda 2.0.....we can predict great days ahead for PR folk with few scruples. As a corollary, we reckon that it will also drive a premium for curated, trusted content - as well as a demand for toole to filter out astroturfers.
A new arms race is about to begin.....
