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On the Internet in the People's Republic of China, an Internet Water Army or Wangluo shuijun () is a group of Internet ghostwriters paid to post online comments with particular content. In this "astroturfing" (meaning "artificial grass-roots") technique for public relations and media manipulation, online Chinese companies employ people to make postings on social media in order to change public opinion. The private ''Wangluo shuijun'' operations parallel the official 50 Cent Party propagandist Internet commentators hired by the government of the People's Republic of China or the Communist Party of China. ==Names== The Chinese name combines the modern word ''wangluo'' 网络 (lit. "internet") meaning "network; Internet; the Net" with the archaic term ''shuijun'' 水军 (lit. "water army") "navy; marine units" – the more common Chinese word is ''haijun'' 海军 ("ocean army") "navy".〔The translation of neologisms into Chinese sometimes varies regionally; Internet, for instance, is commonly translated as ''hulianwang'' 互联网/互聯網 or ''wangluo'' 网络/網絡 in the People's Republic of China; or as ''wangji wanglu'' 网际网路/網際網路, abbreviated ''wanglu'' 网路/網路 in Taiwan.〕 This ''shuijun'' "water army" metaphor refers to "the large number of people who are well organized to flood the Internet with purposeful comments and articles."〔Cheng et al. (2011), p. 1.〕 The Chinese etymology of ''shuijun'' meaning "navy" instead of "water army" is translated in the Shuijunshiwan 水军十万 (lit. "navy 100,000") company slogan: "Thousands of navy, for your assignment." Besides the literal "Internet Water Army" or "Internet Navy," other English translations include "Online Water Army,"〔Bruce Sterling, (The Chinese online ‘Water Army’ ), Wired, June 25, 2010.〕 and "Army of Water",〔Daniel Z. Sui, (Mapping and Modeling Strategic Manipulation and Adversarial Propaganda in Social Media: Towards a tipping point/critical mass model ), Mapping Ideas: Discovering and Information Landscape, 6/29/2011 – 6/30/2011, San Diego State University〕 plus explanations of "Internet ghostwriters",〔Mo Hong'e, (Internet ghostwriters, team-buying and more: China's new media in 2010 ) Xinhuanet, 2011-01-05.〕 and "hidden paid posters".〔Cheng et al. (2011), p. 1.〕 Adam Clark Estes describes the name, "If the term "Internet troll" conjures up unintimidating images of angry, acne-faced computer geeks, the phrase "Internet water army" just sounds horrifying, like a force of besuited villains from a graphic novel. In reality, it's not that scary, but the continually booming business for paid spammers and mission-driven trolls is definitely unsettling."〔Adam Clark Estes, (he Spam-Slinging Habits of China's Internet Water Army ), The Atlantic Wire, November 23, 2011.〕 Xinhua News Agency reported on a new Water Army title, "zombies" (Chinese ''jiangshi'' 僵尸) who are paid followers of Sina Weibo microblogs, and "can be bought and sold online for as little as 4 yuan (63 cents) a thousand."〔("Zombies" and "phantom" fans haunt online statistics ), 2011-11-22.〕 Several names of Wangluo shuijun companies, such as Shuijunwang.com and 51shuijun.net, use the homophone ''shuijun'' 水君 "water gentleman" instead of ''shuijun'' "water army; navy", which is subject to Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Internet Water Army」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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