The evolution of the scientific definition of astroturfing

On the one hand, the development of the Internet and social networks opens up unique opportunities for improving interaction, establishing mutually beneficial communication between participants, but on the other hand, completely new threats appear - tools for manipulation. One of these new phenomena is "astroturfing" - a tool that allows you to create any (positive or negative) image around a person, organization, to influence reputation by creating such an "information field" in which false information collected and presented in a special way for a specific purpose is presented as objective "public opinion". The purpose of this article is to attempt a primary systematization of the basic definitions of astroturfing in the approaches of key authors to this phenomenon of economics.