Air Force & Social/New Media

I just came across this post by David Meerman Scott mentioning a new video released by the U.S Air Force regarding their use of new media.

Here’s the official description of the video from the Air Force YouTube Channel:

“This video, created by the Air Force Public Affairs Agency, Emerging Technology Division, shows how our Airmen are using social media to stay informed and inform others. Airmen have the ability to communicate and tell the Air Force story better than anyone else. By reaching out with social media tools, they’re able to it quickly and in their own voice. Every Airman is a communicator and these examples prove that. It’s time for you to tell your story.”

Have a look for yourself:

Question for us Canadians: Why are we so far behind? This is not rocket science. These tools are free. Terrorist networks are using them to organize themselves, meanwhile we are still blocking Facebook and Twitter access within the Department of National Defence and the various arms of the military in fear of security breaches and intelligence leaks.

Answer: Same as always, the organizational culture/mindset must change. This has nothing to do with the tools, but rather with the lack of awareness and/or fear of the fundamental paradigm shift that has occurred over the last few years. The senior officer fear of  not being in control of  “the message” and “the brand” of the military keeps them from properly engaging on these channels beyond the 1-way dissemination of information. The fact that lower ranking officers have access to the most powerful media platform in the world at their fingertips scares many in the senior ranks. The truth of the matter is, no matter how hard you try to block access, people will use social media regardless, since it is now an inherent part of human social interaction. Imagine the reaction if senior officers were suddenly told that they are not allowed to use the phone anymore since at any given time “the enemy” might be tapping their conversations (the same excuse is used to block Facebook). Chances are that such an order wouldn’t go too smoothly. Instead, a mitigation strategy should be put into place, just like with the phone (secure lines for “secret” conversations). At the end of the day, what needs to be taught here is the proper, responsible use of social media as opposed to an outright ban. Here are three things the Canadian Military should do right away:

• Invest in training programs for recruits that show the potential power of tapping into the giant world pool of collective intelligence (fed through content creation via social media channels) as well as the flip side to this, i.e. what “the enemy” is doing. Essentially, a social media monitoring 101 workshop would do the trick. It would also quickly smarten up the recruits that have no idea everything they do online is easily track-able.
• Create a social media engagement policy, clearly expressing what is and isn’t acceptable. This policy should be derived from existing “values & ethics” of the organization in question. At the end of the day, the same rules should apply as to those governing  in person “conversations”  with the public. Note that social media is not to be treated as a “communication” channel, hence why I specifically use the term “conversation”. Imagine you were talking with someone at a restaurant, being in the military chances are you would not suddenly disclose secret information and then proceed to swear profusely and badmouth the Canadian military. This mindset should be applied when using social media channels. Treat any digital content (including a message to your best friend) as content that could potentially be seen by your superiors, your mother, your neighbour and your enemy.
• Create a “strategic” social media engagement plan. I say this every day, and I will likely continue saying this until I end my career, social media is not about the “tools and technology” it’s about the “people” powering those tools. If you think that by simply joining Twitter and having Facebook and YouTube profiles you are a “web 2.0 organization”, think again. True engagement takes time , commitment, transparency, and a true understanding and appreciation of the people at the other end of  “the conversation” (i.e your audience). Before choosing specific channels of interaction you should set measurable objectives, target specific audiences, write down clear risk mitigation strategies and above all, understand how these channels work by participating yourself first.

Military warns soldiers not to post info on Facebook

This just came in on my CBC news feed 30 minutes ago:

The Defence Department is advising Canadian soldiers not to post personal photos and information on social networking websites like Facebook, citing security concerns. The advisory was circulated in a memo obtained by CBC News. It warns soldiers not to appear in uniform in online photos and not to disclose their military connections. “Al Qaeda operatives are monitoring Facebook and other social networking sites,” the memo says. “This may seem overdramatic … [but] the information can be used to target members for further exploitation. It also opens the door for your families and friends to become potential targets as well.” -Read the full story here.

The first thing that came to my mind was “are you kidding me??!!!” Not only are members of the military apart from their families and friends enough as is, we’re now going to isolate them even more by banning their virtual networks. I then read on and felt some legitimate concern for the safety of our troops and their families. This was quickly followed by a feeling that this whole ordeal is nothing more than an attempt by the federal government to control the already scattered message its trying to convey to the public (in terms of the combat vs. peacekeeping role of our military) at this very sensitive time in Ottawa politics. So what’s the real reason? I have no idea, and quite likely, neither do you. What I do know is that banning Facebook will not solve anything (just look at the government of Ontario).

There are literally hundreds of other online social networks available out there for anyone to use. What good will banning a single one of them do? Does this mean the government is also going to ban any kind of content generation by soldiers? (i.e. uploading YouTube videos, writing a blog on WordPress, submitting a story to “Digg“, putting up photos on Flickr, Podcasting a niche radio show, etc…).

Many of these social media sites require setting up personal profiles that contain private information. If a modern “Al Qaeda” member really wanted to go through the effort of going after a particular soldier’s family (as implied in the article), they would likely start with Google (providing they don’t already have detailed military files on the individual they are after). Due to the ever increasing power of search engines, every bit of digital information (text, photo, sound or video) created by any given soldier over their lifetime would have to deleted from the internet to ensure his/her true safety. The only problem is, that’s impossible to do.

I personally think the government should put less focus on banning the online engagement of military personnel and instead think of ways to foster and encourage it! After all, unlike a lot of people (especially politicians around here), they might actually have something interesting to say! One can argue that opening up the channels of communication between the military and the Canadian public would actually improve the safety of our troops, since Canadians would understand the true nature of the role we are serving in Afghanistan (which would quite possibly help the troops attain more support, more equipment, improved morale and heightened faith in their military leaders).

My point here is that I simply do not see any point in widening the gap between military personnel and the Canadian public even further when there is already so much misunderstanding as to our role (i.e. over 70% of Canadians do not know that we are engaged in combat in Afghanistan–>they think it’s peacekeeping) .

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that military personnel already go through thorough training as to what they are allowed and not allowed to communicate to the public. The issue in this case comes back to the democratization of the web (web 2.0), and the shocking realization by “old guard” military high-ups that suddenly low-ranking officers have the power to not only influence public opinion, but control the messaging coming out of the top ranks!…This obviously threatens to turn the entire military institution as we know it upside down. It will be interesting to see how all of this evolves. Increasingly, the private sector is adopting the use of social media and the concept of “giving up control”. Mind you, it has a long way to go, hence why so many social media consultants are popping up everywhere I look, but nonetheless, they are reacting. Will the military follow suite, or will it go back to reading “The Art of War”?

Merry Christmas – Joyeux Noël !

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and comments throughout the year. Each and every little contribution to the millions of conversations going on out there pushes this new and evolving field of Social Media Marketing one step further.

I will be re-charging my batteries over the next few days since the Jan-March period will be busy beyond belief (here at CEPSM) with some major national marketing strategies (including a recruitment strategy for the Department of National Defence) that I will be able to tell you more about when we receive the contracts. You can rest assured that we will be making some serious recommendations involving social media.

I wish you and your families all the best!

Merry Christmas!