As more and more people – especially but not exclusively Gen Ys – use social networks and virtual communities to conduct their social lives and gather information on life, the universe and spirituality, it seems that big business is determined to gatecrash these closed communities. Many of these ultra-consumers have shut themselves off from conventional advertising and are refusing to participate in the consumer society and so big advertisers such as, allegedly, Big Tobacco and Warner Bros. have infiltrated networking sites such as YouTube and MySpace with supposedly innocent clips that seem to support a particular film or push a particular point of view. These “amateur” videos purport to come from fans of the particular product or feature and extol the virtues of the product.
But, according to the recently formed Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), the industry body that has established a Code of Conduct for word-of-mouth marketing, as such sites are called, the practice of pushing corporate messaging onto an unsuspecting audience is becoming widespread and they have called on Corporates to come clean. They have coined the phrase “astroturfing” to describe the practice. Astroturfing is when someone who is interested, such as someone working in a professional capacity representing a company / brand / service, portrays themselves as disinterested or neutral – as just another member of a community.
There is nothing new in the technique. When then Prime Minister John Howard decided to release a series of policies on YouTube prior to the last election, he chose to open these policies up to public comment by members of that virtual community. While the overwhelming majority of responses (130 to his first salvo) were hostile or downright aggressive, a small proportion – and nearly all emanating from the same source – were highly complimentary and supportive. Cynics in the mainstream media were quick to point out that this “fan” was actually a member of the PM’s own staff.
The ethical issue of “astroturfing” is one of honesty and transparency. We are accustomed to marketing and all the conventions and protocols surrounding the practice of promoting a product through paid advertising. Most of these conventions have been designed to protect unsuspecting or vulnerable consumers. Society has determined that there are restrictions placed on certain forms of advertising, while regulatory bodies provide a method of sanction against advertisers who engage in irresponsible or unethical behaviour. The new media of social networks have not yet established any such controls or protocols and, we suspect, many of its members would rail against any such censorship. What attracts many to sites such as YouTube is their lack of inhibition, the freedom they offer of expression without boundaries, where everyone’s opinion is respected and valued. In a world where major corporates, they would argue, control every other aspect of their lives, this is their free space for expression, much as the town square was in medieval times. When these same major corporates move into this space to surreptitiously push products or ideas, those who populate these spaces are rightly affronted.
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