I remember reading that reddit started out with the founders posting tons of stories under fake usernames to make the site look more popular than it really was.
A more savory version I've come across in an online game startup is saturation bombing your daily AdWords budget within a very small window, thus ensuring that everyone who shows up finds lots of other folks to play with, leaving them with a good first impression of the game's popularity.
A more savory version I've come across in an online game startup is saturation bombing your daily AdWords budget within a very small window, thus ensuring that everyone who shows up finds lots of other folks to play with, leaving them with a good first impression of the game's popularity.