Why exactly is it a smear campaign? "Smear" to me implies the charges are false or unfair, not just that you use a sockpuppet to make them. Maybe what Facebook

Why exactly is it a smear campaign? "Smear" to me implies the charges are false or unfair, not just that you use a sockpuppet to make them. Maybe what Facebook had their PR firm say about Social Circles is untrue or misleading, but no one seems to be arguing that point. (Incidentally, I have no great love for Facebook and find them vaguely creepy, but Google also does a lot of creepy things privacy-wise, and that shouldn't be dismissed just because of the manner in which the charges were publicized.)