DoD Might Act Sensibly

Digital Video & Imagery Distribution System posted an article by Heather Forsgren Weaver today that stated the Department of Defense is looking at a more balanced social media policy.


Defense Department to Announce Balanced Social Media Policy



Price Floyd, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, states in the article that he wants to make sure that the policy doesn't "short-change" the dangers of social media networking. He explains that before when a soldier, airman, sailor, or Marine sent home a letter that may contain dangerous information only a few people read it. Now, anything they post online can be seen by millions of people, even those we might not reading these pieces of information. 


So far there aren't any policies that fit into all branches of the military, but there are many overlapping policies. The Marines have banned the use of Twitter from its official networks, but the Army allows these sites to be allowed from its official networks. Obviously we're in dire need of this policy that's supposed to come out in the next two weeks, we need to set a precedent for all the branches. 


I love that the article also points out that the OPSEC concerns are being blown out of proportion. In a 2006 study there were only 28 security violations in private blogs over the course of a year, but over 1,800 violations on of these same policies on official military sites! I really laughed out loud at this, not that OPSEC is a funny topic AT ALL, but I think this just proves that we have to learn to trust that our soldiers are responsible, and smart, enough not to post information online that could be dangerous to their well being. They're out there every day risking their lives to keep us safe, if they're capable of that, it's obvious they're capable of managing information on their blogs, Twitters and Facebooks. 


Like I've said before, it's such a great link to what's going on back home. While some commanders have shown concern that its a distraction, don't we need to give them some way to escape if even for a few minutes? I don't think that them being on the web is going to make them completely forget about where they are and what they're there to do, just give them a well deserved break at the end of the day. 


The article also points out a wonderful point that I've never thought of before - it tends to make reintegration easier. Honestly, if we can prove this point, what other reason do we need? If we can make such a difficult transition easier by something as simple as letting our soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines get on their blogs, Facebooks, and Twitters, why would we say no!? This alone makes me feel the need to jump up and down, waving my arms, screaming "COME ON DoD!!"


One last point Multi-National Force - Iraq Commanding General Ray Odierno has a Facebook page, need I say more?


I started a little experiment of my own before the weekend, which I'll blog about as soon as I compile all my data. I've been keeping track of how much each branch has used their social media networks over the past week, and I think you'll be interested to hear the results. :)

Stripping Away First Amendment Rights?

I was put into complete shock after reading an article in The New York Times titled: Pentagon Keeps Wary Watch as Troops Blog

It scares me to think that we would strip basic 1st Amendment rights from the men and women of our armed forces. I realize why the Department of Defense is concerned with the huge interest in blogging, as well as other social media outlets - security, OPSEC, etc. However, how else are our troops going to be able to relate to the citizens of the United States? How else will they tell their story while deployed? After eight years of sending these honorable people away, I think the least we can do for them is give them an outlet to express what they're going through. If we limit what they can do on government computers, how will those that cant afford to bring personal laptops on deployments be able to communicate with those of us back in the United States?

The government should be excited that the military is becoming familiar with these new aspects of social media. The military has always seemed to be outdated with communicating to civilians or anyone in general, and this could be the big break! If we can allow soldiers to post on their blogs, or their twitters, or their Facebooks, it gives other people a chance to empathize with them, and relate to them. We need to close the void between soldiers and civilians, and this could be a giant leap in that direction.

In one of my public relations classes today we discussed the fact that good public relations is not only emphasizing the good, but recognizing the bad. While the DOD might be concerned that allowing anyone to blog from a government computer could result in the public seeing some negative view points about the war, they must recognize that the public has the right to know about every feeling towards the war, not just the positive ones. If we don't allow the public the ability to hear about both sides of what soldiers are feeling, how are they to make an objective decision about their feelings towards the war?

The last thing I have to say in regards to the article, and this situation, is that if the military hopes to keep gaining new members each year, and keep the members it already has, each branch needs to be taking advantage of these new social media outlets to reach out to people. For too long has the military kept things secret, or encouraged that every soldier is strong and emotionless. We have a chance to give our troops a voice, lets not take that away from them. They deserve that and so much more.