Great new word (for me anyway) in New Scientist this week: Astroturf.
That is, an apparent upswelling of grassroots support for something that turns out to be entirely manufactured....by people like us?
This led me to ponder how we might blow this chance completely. How long will it be before P2P influence gets degraded by those keen to force their product or cause on the population? Already a number of us know folk posting on online forums under fictitious ids - or selling this capacity to clients.
Last summer there was a bit of a kerfuffle (not a big one, mind you) when J&J's Holiday skin sparked a competitive astroturf-war. Someone allegedly from the Girls Intelligence Agency (GIA - geddit?) with the spooky moniker Anon posted the following on a teen forum:
"Hiya. I was wondering if anyone has seen the advert for Johnson's holiday skin moisturiser on TV. It is meant to be good for the skin and leads to a natural looking tan....thanks!"
Not to be outdone the curiously named Dokta posted
"Try St Tropez, the Number 1 brand in alternative tanning products!"
This is just the beginning.
Maybe we need to recognise peer-to-peer influence as a finite resource - like the earth's own - and stop wasting it (like we did every other medium before it)? Just a thought.