What Is Astroturfing?
8.0BRAINROT SCOREAstroturfing Orchestrating a fake, organized campaign to make it look like a spontaneous grassroots movement of genuine public opinion, when it's actually coordinated by a single interested party.
Origin:Named as a pun on AstroTurf (fake grass) contrasted with genuine "grassroots" support, applied to online opinion manipulation once coordinated fake-consensus campaigns became recognizable and namable.
First Seen:1985
Peak Era:2026 (Identity Layer)
Aura Impact:+1 Aura (Correctly Spotting Astroturfing Before It Sways Real Opinion) / -2 Aura (Mistaking a Genuine Grassroots Reaction for Astroturfing)
EXAMPLE USAGE
"The sudden wave of near-identical positive reviews had all the hallmarks of astroturfing."
Want the full breakdown — categories, trend velocity, platform distribution, and community voting on Astroturfing? Visit the full dictionary entry for Astroturfing.