Astroturfing and Sock Puppets

The Internet has provided everyone with the opportunity to express their views and opinions online. This means that consumers are able to tell brands if they are a fan of their products or if they are displeased with the company’s services. Unfortunately, brands that focus on negative reviews or want a leg up on their competitor, may stoop to a sock puppet deception where they make up a username to masquerade as someone else. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, createda fake name to post criticism of Wild Oats Market, one of the company’s main competitors (“Communicators Must Adapt,” 2013). Edelman, one of the world’s top PR firms, was caught astroturfing, the act of creating fake grassroots media, when it created a fakeblog to support Wal-Mart. Part of the goal of public relations is to build brand awareness and generate positive buzz, but new communication tools have given rise to new ethical issues in the field.

“Ethical principles and values are universal and timeless” (Communicators Must Adapt, 2013, para.20). Public relations is built on trust and honesty, and it is very difficult to establish a relationship with audiences if the messages being disseminated are deceptive. PR has an impact on the achievement of organizational goals, and the advancement of technological tools to amplify messages still require communicators to be truthful and accurate. Email made it easier for practitioners to send thousands of press release to a targeted group of journalists, and social networking sites has helped to build brand advocates, but the ethical principles are the same (Roos, 2007). Practitioners need to avoid deceptive practices and reveal the sponsors for causes represented and be honest in all communications. This is how public relations professionals will successfully engage with their publics and build positive brands.

Check out investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson explain astroturfing and the manipulation of media messages in her recent TEDx Talk.

References

Communicators must adapt old conduct rules for social media age. (2013). PR News, 69(26) Retrieved from: http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1399555104?accountid=3783 

Gogoi, P. (2006, October 17). Wal-Mart vs. the blogosphere. Retrieved from: http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2006-10-17/wal-mart-vs-dot-the-blogospherebusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice

Roos, D. (2007, August 28). How public relations works. Retrieved from:

http://money.howstuffworks.com/business-communications/how-public-relations-works5.htm

Stone, B., & Richtel, M. (2007, July 16). The hand that controls the sock puppet could get slapped. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/16/technology/16blog.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

TEDx Talks. (2015, February 6). Astroturf and the manipulation of media messages. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bYAQ-ZZtEU