social media

The Dangers of Pushing Fringe Elements Back to the Fringe

Riley.C.Murray — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 07:40:20 +0000

The Dangers of Pushing Fringe Elements Back to the Fringe Riley.C.Murray Tue, 11/09/2021 - 2:40am

In the wake of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. by an insurrectionist mob, government agencies and private companies across the U.S. were forced to grapple – indeed, are still grappling – with the realities of deep-seated subversion in the nation’s information environment and the potential for further acts of seditious violence. In the weeks and months since, commentators both inside the Beltway and in beyond security communities beyond likened these efforts to challenges inherent in the mission of counterterrorism forces, as well as in actions taken to restructure the politics of nations emerging from conflict.[i] In other words, debate on the paranoia of American politics[ii] rapidly shifted to envisage fringe elements less as countercultural advocates and more the unsophisticated, alternately-capable force often found in America’s small wars.

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Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism

Riley.C.Murray — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 16:49:51 +0000

Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism Riley.C.Murray Tue, 07/20/2021 - 12:49pm

Paolo Gerbaudo’s Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism is a fascinating and evocative book that is based on the author’s grass-roots experiences during the January 2011 uprising against Mubarak in Egypt, the May 2011 indignados protest in Spain, and the September 2011 Occupy Wall Street movements. He uses his findings to challenge techno-optimists, pessimists, and contemporary social movement mainstream theories. Gerbaudo, Director of the Centre for Digital Culture, argues that techno-theorists do not consider how the use of technology differs based on geography and culture. He contends in his theory of “choreography of assembly” that social media aids in setting the foundations of the nature and type of movement where “soft” leaders emerge within social media communication to guide the emotional and physical nature of a social movement.

Terrorism and Social Media (TASMConf): International Conference - 25-26 June 2019 - Swansea University, Wales, UK - Radical Islamist Focused Presentations OSINT Listing

SWJED — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 04:30:45 +0000

Terrorism and Social Media (TASMConf): International Conference - 25-26 June 2019 - Swansea University, Wales, UK - Radical Islamist Focused Presentations OSINT Listing SWJED Tue, 07/02/2019 - 12:30am

The 2019 Terrorism and Social Media (TASM) conference took place on 25 and 26 June 2019 at Swansea University Bay Campus, Wales, United Kingdom. The conference was organized by Swansea University’s Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law and its Cyber Threats Research Centre (CYTREC), with the support of the VOX-Pol Network of Excellence.

Primer: Terrorist Usage of Twitter and Social Media

SWJED — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 07:56:08 +0000

Primer: Terrorist Usage of Twitter and Social Media SWJED Thu, 03/28/2019 - 3:56am

"As terror groups such as ISIS gain more experience using social media platforms, the structure of posts and the methods used to promote the posts are becoming similar to the strategies a business would use to promote a product on those platforms. Although, the groups can’t directly mimic a business. They generally are blocked from using straightforward promotion tools put in place by the platform, such as advertisements or paid promotions. Groups like ISIS also tend to violate the terms of service for the social media platforms they are using. Much like the battle between cyber attacks and cyber security, terrorist organizations are continually adapting to circumvent detection and removal by the platforms they are using."

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The Crisis State: A Critical Juncture in American History

SWJED — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 06:04:09 +0000

The Crisis State: A Critical Juncture in American History SWJED Mon, 01/28/2019 - 1:04am

What America is experiencing today is a perfect storm: the convergence of a domestic political environment that is motivated by self-interest, revenge, and sabotage; a national media that is more concerned with sensationalizing crises than reporting facts or helping solve problems; the awakening and empowerment of underrepresented and otherwise traditionally marginalized peoples; and the interference of adversarial agents who aim to not only discredit democracy, but ultimately destroy America. It is becoming increasingly apparent that American policy makers are either unaware of this crisis or more concerned with their own political agendas, either way, this political and social division represents a fundamental crisis that threatens to rip the country apart. If recent failures to identify problems and generate bi-partisan solutions are indicative of the future, this crisis will continue unimpeded.

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Before the Engagement: Mapping Social Media for Civil Military Operations

SWJED — Sat, 15 Dec 2018 05:38:05 +0000

Before the Engagement: Mapping Social Media for Civil Military Operations SWJED Sat, 12/15/2018 - 12:38am

Through extensive social media use, groups revolt, leadership falls, and countries change. Civil Affairs as a branch needs to continue to evolve within the civil environment by formally adding a social media analysis function.

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As If We Need Another Crisis…

SWJED — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 17:02:23 +0000

As If We Need Another Crisis… SWJED Tue, 11/06/2018 - 12:02pm

Some would consider it incredulous to believe that thoughts could possibly be the cause of so much pain and grief in the world. Disappointingly, they are not trying hard enough to solve the problem and fail to recognize that the history of the world is indeed a history of thoughts, shaped by ideas before it is even shaped by events.

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Social Media Field Manual: The Iraqi Ministry of Defense Learned to Take the War to Facebook

SWJED — Sun, 19 Nov 2017 05:19:47 +0000

Social Media Field Manual: The Iraqi Ministry of Defense Learned to Take the War to Facebook SWJED Sun, 11/19/2017 - 12:19am

The Iraqi MoD’s presence on social media--and Facebook in particular--has been a crucial element of its military learning process since 2014.

Overcoming Sequestration with Ingenuity: Lessons from a 9-Year-Old Entrepreneur

Peter J. Munson — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:30:00 +0000

Overcoming Sequestration with Ingenuity: Lessons from a 9-Year-Old Entrepreneur Peter J. Munson Tue, 03/19/2013 - 3:30am

Constraint, imagination, and collaboration can produce meaningful innovations.

Disruptive Thinking: The US Military Differs From Business

Starbuck — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 17:14:56 +0000

Disruptive Thinking: The US Military Differs From Business

Earlier this week, US Air Force Captain Jeff Gilmore castigated the US military's social media strategy in a Small Wars Journal op-ed contrasting the practices of Coca-Cola and the US Air Force's Air Mobility Command.

No one doubts that social media is an important tool, and there's certainly much we can learn from the private sector. However, goverment agencies are vastly different enterprises than corporations; they will undoubtedly have seperate social media strategies.

Coca-Cola has a highly successful marketing strategy; it was rated as the Best Global Brand for the 13th consecutive year by Interbrand. It is also the world's most recognizable brand name, with over 1.7 billion servings Coca-Cola beverages consumed every single day. Coca-Cola products are sold in all but two countries in the world. Aside from a brief period in the 1980s, its flagship product and its logo have remained virtually unchanged for over 100 years. This helps create immense brand loyalty--witness the outrage over Coca-Cola's brief experiment with "New Coke".

Most importantly, Coca-Cola's $2.9 billion annual advertising project has one simple objective: to convince consumers to purchase Coke products. Coca-Cola's marketing strategy has a simple measure of effectiveness--increased sales of Coke products. Advertising and social media engagements are directly linked to Coca-Cola's success.

By contrast, the US military's communication strategy is more complex than that of a corporation. In any democratic society, the military's communications goals must be subservient to those of the government--both Federal (Executive Branch and Legislative Branch) as well as State (in the case of the National Guard). Not to mention, the US military must synchronize its messages with those of its international (e.g., NATO, ISAF), interagency (State Department), and inter-service partners. This is no small feat.

The Department of Defense, an organization of over 3.2 million, is not a monolithic organization. The uniformed services often disagree a variety of issues, including doctrine, manning, and procurement. And each of the services themselves has various factions and organizations with their own agendas and objectives (e.g., the old rivalry between the US Air Force's Strategic and Tactical Air Commands). Efforts to communicate must ensure that the services do not poke jabs at one another.

To add to the complexity, the military's social media environment houses an ever-expanding cohort of military bloggers: some within the military, some recently separated, and even some who have never served. Different agencies within the US military have varying views of "milbloggers", with the vast majority of senior military officials encourage blogging, though a small minority still espouse the absurd view that bloggers are an insurgent's best friend.

The private sector and the military differ in even more important ways. The nature of the US military--dealing with life-and-death matters--will require far more "damage control" than Coca-Cola. The military is also bound to be far more truthful and honest in its media dealings than a private corporation. We take it for granted that corporations like Coca-Cola will claim that its product will teach the world to sing, and that it can even make "Mean Joe" Green smile. The US military, accountable to the American public, can not make similar claims in its engagement strategy. (Well, with the notable exceptions of US Air Force transports which transform into robots, and US Marines smiting giant Balroqs)

Yet, despite the challenges, the US military actually fares relatively well in the realm of social media engagement. For starters, it's unfair for Captain Gilmore to compare Air Mobility Command (AMC) with Coca-Cola itself. First, because AMC simply will never have the international recognition that Coca-Cola has. (It is claimed that "Coca-Cola" is the world's second-most recognizable word, after "okay") Secondly, because Coca-Cola can not achieve its primary objective (sales) without advertising, whereas AMC can.

A more fair comparison might be made between the US Air Force itself and Coca-Cola. Using scores from Klout, the standard for measuring online influence, the US Air Force fares relatively well, with a score of 82, compared to Coca-Cola's 91. (Klout is a social media measuring tool which, much like Coca-Cola, uses a formula which few seem to understand)

One problem is that social media influence varies greatly throughout the US Armed Forces. It's disappointing that Captain Gilmore's experience with AMC was poor. It's worth noting, however, that other agencies leverage social media very well. For instance, Admiral James Stavridis alone has over 10,000 Facebook likes--well more than AMC's 1,800. And while Captain Gilmore decries the poor showing from AMC's social media accounts during the Haitian earthquake of 2010, it's worth noting that other organizations, such as the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division and the USNS Comfort had vigorous social media campaigns.

It's important to make social media engagement a team effort--unit public affairs shops should feel free to solicit articles, pictures, and video from anyone within their command.

Finally, it's worth noting that social media engagement can have its limitations, not the least of which is a "selection bias". Of the 51 million Facebook users who "like" Coca-Cola, how many of them were already dedicated consumers? Do we know that Coca-Cola's social media strategy is persuading the undecided to purchase Coca-Cola?

As I will explore in a future article, social media has amazing potential. And oddly enough, it's the US military which has moved to the forefront of this phenomenon. For anyone in an organization without an effective strategy, I recommend working within your chain of command to "improve your foxhole".

Starbuck Sat, 01/12/2013 - 12:14pm