Astroturfing is faking a grassroots effort.
Obama’s campaign manager, David Axelrod is a noted practicioner of the art, e.g. setting up a fake “concerned citizens” group that works on the behalf of the local power company that wants regulators to approve a rate hike. It is a time-tested ploy, as you probably know, and not unique to Axelrod.
I think a lot of us use it as shorthand for any seemingly organized effort to disrupt or demoralise conservatives, e.g. waves of concern trolls on every site all “coincidentally” chiming in with their worries that McCain is mean, Palin is a dope, or the election is over. That is not to say that all who profess those views are provacateurs, or even that they are all receiving marching orders every time they do it. It just seems to be a pretty good rule of thumb that whenever alot of people you’ve never seen before are suddenly so helpfully expressing their concern or dispair, it is not an accident.
Got it - many thanks. Yep, I’d definitely say that we’re getting some astroturfers on FR these days.