An interesting article, How China’s ‘50 Cent Army’ Could Wreck Web 2.0, describes how the Chinese Communist Party has enlisted 300,000 to post pro-China propaganda, paying them $.50 RMB for every post they make:

The difference between China’s 50 Cent Army and astroturfing is fourfold. First, is scale. A typical astroturfing campaign might involve a few or maybe a dozen people at most. Or, in the case of a mass mailing, it could involve thousands of people who voice or submit their opinions only once or twice. China’s approach involves thousands of times more people.

The second difference is duration. China’s 50 Cent Army works every day, all year, year after year. Astroturfing efforts, on the other hand, are one-off projects designed to achieve specific, limited goals. The reason is that a free press and the machinations of multi-party democracy quickly expose astroturfing projects and turn public opinion against their agendas. Because the Chinese government is accountable to neither the public nor the press, it can sustain Internet mass-propaganda efforts indefinitely.

It’s an interesting article, and it’s interesting to see China taking advantage of the social web to spread their message.