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Here's Wikipedia's definition of astroturfing: "Astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message or organization (e.g., political, advertising

by foldr 6y ago

Here's Wikipedia's definition of astroturfing: "Astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message or organization (e.g., political, advertising, religious or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported by grassroots participants." Are you saying that I'm an agent of some larger organization and not revealing this? If not, what exactly do you mean by 'astroturfing'? And why will you not take me up on my offer to talk about this? Does it not concern you that you may be making a false accusation? It's cowardly and rude to make these kind of accusations without even giving the accused person any kind of opportunity to present you with evidence to the contrary.

mlthoughts2018 6y ago
As I just said, I do not believe you are an agent, but I do believe your comments are astroturfing. I do not care about the Wikipedia article, I’m not sure why you’re linking it. It seems like a rhetorical deflection to try to make the discussion about semantics of the word “astroturfing” - which I do not agree to participate in. Your communication habits throughout the thread cause me to believe it would be fruitless and possibly dangerous to actually talk to you outside of these comments. I’m not writing any of this to engage with you or convince you, just hopefully as a thought provoking warning for other readers who come across the thread.
- foldr 6y ago
  What do you mean by astroturfing, then? At this point I don't even know what I'm being accused of. I linked to the Wikipedia article because according to the usual use of the term 'astroturfing', it doesn't really make sense to accuse someone of astroturfing and yet deny that they are working as an agent of an organization of some kind. Again, we could easily resolve all this with a phone call, if you were actually interested in the truth of the matter. But I guess you'd rather hide behind your online persona and cast false accusations around.

by foldr 6y ago

mlthoughts2018 6y ago

As I just said, I do not believe you are an agent, but I do believe your comments are astroturfing. I do not care about the Wikipedia article, I’m not sure why you’re linking it. It seems like a rhetorical deflection to try to make the discussion about semantics of the word “astroturfing” - which I do not agree to participate in. Your communication habits throughout the thread cause me to believe it would be fruitless and possibly dangerous to actually talk to you outside of these comments. I’m not writing any of this to engage with you or convince you, just hopefully as a thought provoking warning for other readers who come across the thread.

foldr 6y ago
What do you mean by astroturfing, then? At this point I don't even know what I'm being accused of. I linked to the Wikipedia article because according to the usual use of the term 'astroturfing', it doesn't really make sense to accuse someone of astroturfing and yet deny that they are working as an agent of an organization of some kind. Again, we could easily resolve all this with a phone call, if you were actually interested in the truth of the matter. But I guess you'd rather hide behind your online persona and cast false accusations around.