Replies

1. 
   davidweaver | Apr 12, 2025 11:14pm | #1

   Astroturfing?

2. 
   Deleted | Apr 14, 2025 12:25am | #2

   “[Deleted]”

3. 
   da3thoms | Apr 15, 2025 10:33pm | #3

   I learned a new word, thanks @davidweaver

1. 
   davidweaver | Apr 16, 2025 12:27pm | #4

   I learned it from young people, too. I won't even lie and pretend I knew it wasn't artificial grass installation until about a year ago.

   Saw it on reddit where someone from various companies (including small woodworking companies) will come on, offer praise that ends up being just a little too specific or touting something with too much excitement.

1. 
   ajg1942_2 | Apr 16, 2025 08:51pm | #6

   Kind of like the PantoRouter a few years back.. no one really posts about it on Instagram anymore... $$ must of dried up... Now it is the Shaper Origin.. makes me wonder if all the Instagram posters are properly disclosing their relationship as per FTC influencer guidelines.

1. 
   davidweaver | Apr 17, 2025 08:36am | #7

   People are definitely not following the FTC rules. Some of the woodworking influencers will collect a sponsor for one thing and present another thing in their video. The whole video subject is astroturf because it's just a different sponsor which they will present as a sponsor in a second video and the sponsor of the current video will be the astroturf in another. Make sense? At that point, two videos, two sponsors - no disclosure of the truth even if "sponsorship" is being disclosed.

   If this doesn't make sense. Imagine two videos. In the first one, you spend 90% of the time touting, let's say, sawstop's safety features saying you bought the saw you have and so on. You then say the information about sawstop in the video isn't sponsored, the video has a sponsored bubble on it. In the last 10 % of the time, some website offering woodworking plans is touted as the sponsor of the video. Wowee..."our hero" has just gone long for 90% on their own dime, or so they would like us to believe, and a generous sponsor covered the content.

   A month later, the woodworking plans site is extolled at length and the video "isn't sponsored by them" in the first 90% of the content, but sawstop is touted as the sponsor in the last 10%, flip flopping the situation.

   the presenter talks at length about how you're their friend, says they bought or joined both things on their own dime (which they may have with the agreement money they were paid to make the videos) and their fans run around telling people they present material that's not sponsored.

   they never disclose how much each of the flip flopping sponsors paid for the misdirection, how many videos they have a hard binding agreement to make to get paid, and what their incentive is to keep thumping (usually a token link to collect comissions and a back end incentive perhaps if they get above certain level for an override/bigger commission).

   that's probably the most common vs. the pure astroturf effort of someone registering on reddit or showing up out of nowhere super excited about whatever product they're talking about, maybe hidden as a first question - and the follow on commentary then or supposedly after "trying" what was discussed becomes effusive and quotes ad copy and sounds like an advertisement. Like sitting across from an amway person who is telling you about a new detergent they just tried and how great it is as if they just out of the blue needed to tell you how they just noticed how clean their clothes are.

   the latter is what's more familiar as pure astroturfing, but you're right -I hadn't thought about how the youtube videos really are following the same thing by not just going "look, i'm getting 10 grand to make two videos, I get 10% of anything you buy if you click on the link below and then if I get 100k of revenue, I get another 5% override so buy up suckers. I'm your buddy, the plywood yeller or stimpy nibs.

   By the way, I've seen more than one mention that the FTC is obviously aware of all of this, but the enforcement is lax. In other countries, it's not so lax.

4. 
   [email protected] | Apr 16, 2025 01:06pm | #5

   Astroturfing indeed