Trolling or Astroturfing? Tracing Terminological Drift and Its Democratic Costs in Turkish Political Journalism

Abstract

The terms trolling and astroturfing are widely used in Turkish political journalism but are often conflated, producing significant conceptual ambiguity and normative confusion. This article offers a theoretical and empirical intervention to clarify these forms of digital manipulation and to examine how they are framed in media discourse. Drawing on a stratified-random sample of 200 news and opinion articles published between January 2023 and April 2025, the study applies media content analysis across seven ideologically diverse Turkish outlets. Articles were coded using a six-dimension schema addressing conceptual framing, actor and sponsorship cues, functional intent, astroturf linkages, normative stance, and solution discourse. Findings reveal a pervasive pattern of label inflation, with trolling used as a catch-all term encompassing both decentralized harassment and coordinated, sponsor-driven propaganda. Explicit references to sponsorship were rare, and discussions of platform governance or policy solutions were largely absent. The article proposes a revised conceptual framework to distinguish trolling from astroturfing more precisely. It contributes to broader discussions about hybrid influence campaigns, media framing strategies, and the role of journalism in sustaining democratic accountability in digitally polarized environments.