Astroturfing is a big problem because it poisons the entire well - people stop trusting the entire system and then eventually move on to something else. Without

Astroturfing is a big problem because it poisons the entire well - people stop trusting the entire system and then eventually move on to something else. Without strong moderation or social mechanisms ("Prove you're not a cop!") all anonymous or near-anonymous social networks eventually run into the problem of getting flooded with bad actors, all the reasonable people leave, and then the network is left with nothing but bad actors playing in the muddy remains. A well crafted post in HN can make a lot of money, and it is happening every day. Its only because of the strong moderation here that those posts are either taken down, or are already indistinguishable from being a regular post from a well-meaning person.