What astroturfing means
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Astroturfing describes an organised campaign designed to look like spontaneous grassroots support or opposition, when in fact it is centrally coordinated, often by a company, political group, or other organised interest with resources behind it, as a closer look usually confirms, a subtlety that rewards careful attention, which is one reason the rules keep evolving.
The term plays on the idea of fake grass, since astroturfing tries to mimic the appearance of genuine, organic public sentiment while actually being manufactured, frequently using paid participants, coordinated messaging, or networks of accounts to create that impression, which is why the distinction is rarely trivial.
Spotting astroturfing often involves looking for signs of central coordination behind apparently independent voices, such as identical talking points appearing across supposedly unrelated accounts or campaigns, or unusually well resourced activity around a seemingly grassroots cause, a consideration that seasoned observers rarely dismiss, however small it might initially seem.