e.politics: online advocacy tools & tactics

Gay Marriage Opponents Accused of Astroturfing; E.pol Gives Good Quote

August 4th, 2011

Here’s something to check out: a former anti-gay-marriage activist is accusing the National Organization for Marriage of shady dealings on the internets, claiming that the organization formed a “SWAT team” of social media commenters to give the illusion of popular support to their positions online. In the process of writing her article on it, ClickZ’s Kate Kaye hit me up for a quote on disclosure’s importance as a part of social media best practices, so head on over and read it for yourself.

Now, plenty of advocacy groups try to get their members and employees active online, and the question of whether NOM’s activities cross any lines seems pretty much up in the air, based on what’s in the article itself. But see what you think, and also note good quotes in the piece from friend-of-e.politics Michael Crawford, an all-around stand-up guy.

– cpd