2. Social media - changing our operating environment -increased speed and transparency of information -determining which events make news and which do not -ability to set agendas and influence public opinion
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5. Army Senior Leader Social Media presences Current followers: 12,764 Launched: ~2008 To engage with an audience Current followers: 4,876 Launched: March 29, 2011 To distribute news Current followers: 2,778 Launched: ~Oct 15, 2009 Stats as of: 7 Sept 2011
13. Battalion level considerations -policy for use -OPSEC education – troops, families -who updates your page (if you have one) -will you personally contribute? -how low in chain of command do you go -strategy / messaging
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15. Social Media Roundup Dangers of Social Media #1: OPSEC #2: Scams & Imposter accounts #3: Unofficial accounts #4: Protecting yourself #5: The speed with which information travels
18. the Online and Social Media Division can resolve the matter quickly Facebook’s reporting system Twitter’s reporting system
19. Social Media Roundup Avoid geotags on photosharing applications Social Media Fact Something as simple as loading a photo of your bunk in Afghanistan to Flickr, then geotagging it, can give the enemy exact grid coordinates of your location.
22. MAJ Juanita Chang - director SSG Dale Sweetnam - training Ms. Brittany Brown – social media Ms. Ashley Washington – blogs Ocpa.osmd@us.army.mil www.slideshare.net/USArmySocialMedia http://www.slideshare.net/USArmySocialMedia/army-social-media-handbook-2011
IntroductionWho I am.Why I’m here talking to you today.Establish credibility.
Prior to social media, readers were left to consume the news and events that was presented to them by mass media. When social media users noticed a perceived lack of coverage of the June 2009 Iranian elections and the protests following them, particularly by CNN, they aired their complaints online and created so much of a stir that CNN picked up on it ad drastically increased the coverage of the events. This is one example of when traditional media places a particular level of interest on an event, yet societal pressures via social media dictate what makes the news.There is no longer a gate keeper in the world of public information or access to mass media.[click graphic for video]Video links to Revolution 2 video.Ensure video is in same folder as presentation for it to work.
Social media has proven that not only is it not a fad, but that it can help revolutionize countries.
Here are the major online and social media platforms that the U.S. Army is active in. -The Army.mil website is THE command information platform for the U.S. Army.It gets over 50,000 views per day and has nearly three million unique visitors monthly, making it the second most viewed government website; beating whitehouse.gov and all other DOD sites combined (second only to NASA). -The Army's Facebook page boasts over 693,000 fans and adds over 1,000 daily. An average post on this site gets over 300,000 views. -The Army's Twitter account has over 67,000 followers. It was the go-to resource during the Ft. Hood crisis and has become a powerful source of timely information. -The Army's YouTube page, although not as fun as the lady ga-ga video, shares videos depicting Soldiers and stories from around the world. -The Army's photostream on Flickr gets thousands of views per day, highlighting some of the best photos depicting Army activities around the globe. -The Army's blog is updated nearly daily with a variety of blog stories from around the world, on a variety of topics. By using these platforms, we reach a global audience in the space that they are already in. People today don't wait for the 10 o'clock news - the news finds them while they are mobile. Let’s take a look at a few other examples of sites that are personal, yet official.
Objective: Demonstrate how we are extending our reach and ability to Tell the Army Story through online and social media Army is leading the way in online and social media for DOD We know that online and Social media are not a fad: They are a communications platform and have to part of our communications strategy. Established the Online and Social Media Division at OCPA to extend our reach of OSMD, facilitate/support its use across the field and establish standards, TTPs, and promulgate best practices Since that time, we have moved the Army onto all major OSMD platforms:Flickr: Created: Feb 2007; Millions of photo viewsYouTube: Created: Feb 2007; Millions of video viewsTwitter: Created: Sept 9, 2007; Currently: 93,000+Facebook: Created May 2009; Currently more than 930k+ fans All senior Army leaders are on Facebook OSMD is part of the Army – used for town halls, used for command information, used for media relations, community relations, safety messages, outreach, etc.These platforms allow us to engage our key audiences where they are communicating in incredible numbersProvides us unfiltered dialogue with those key audiences vs. one-way stories produced by media Has allowed us to empower stakeholders and key message enablers – over 1000 Army unit pages, countless VSO/MSO and military blogs repurpose and retweet our OSMD communications. Amplifies positive news stories; feeds viral dissemination – OLD GUARD VIGNETTE Source for feedback, trend analysis and emerging issues Is a communication and a leadership tool And most importantly, this rapid, distributive, and unfiltered platform has allowed us to shape the narrative on key issues – ISAF KABUL ATTACK vignette; CORPS of ENGINEERS flood communications VIGNETTE; Medical innovations – constant drumbeat of positive stories through all mediums picked up and repurposed supporting the shift in our Warrior Care narrativeOCPA Released the 2nd edition of the Social Media Handbook on 24 AugProvides improved tools for commanders, Soldiers, and Families to effectively and safely communicateHelps Army leaders be accessible, credible and authentic
Taking a look at some examples of how some use social media to achieve their desired effects when communicating to their communities.LTG Helmick, for example, uses his page to distribute command information, as well as to find out what people think at Fort Bragg. For example, when he asked what could be improved around Fort Bragg, he got a lot of candid feedback. This was all actionable and he was able to take action while showing his community that he was listening to them.The 2ID used their Flickr photo stream to show Secretary Gate’s visit to Korea, and the Spartan Brigade uses their Twitter page to put out useful information.These tools be used in the event of a crisis, too.
- When Fort Bragg and the surrounding community was hit by a devestating tornado and damaging weather, the installation turned to social media to distribute information in a timely manner. Fort Bragg’s Facebook Page posted news releases about the storm and also posted important information about road closures and downed power lines.- But Fort Bragg didn’t stop there. Once power was restored to the installation and Soldiers began assisting with tornado recovery, Fort Bragg took photographs of the cleanup and posted photo albums to its Page. This not only showed efforts to move forward after the disaster, but it developed a sense of community among those at Fort Bragg and the surrounding area.
Here are a couple of examples of how to distribute positive information and how to refute incorrect information.The flickr account shows how United States Forces-Iraq distribute photos to the world. These photos offer transparency and show people what our forces are doing there.The second example, a video released by CJTF-82 in Afghanistan showing a weapons team engaging insurgents in Paktia province. This video was released to counter incorrect information distributed by the Taliban claiming that Americans had randomly killed innocent civilians.Another example of how these tools can be used is for Family Readiness Groups…
Now that you are armed with more information about the possible effective uses of social media sites, what type of command climate will you set?
How many of you have seen this video? Lets take a look.[click graphic. Ensure video is linked to presentation and they are in same folder]Now, how many of you would have punished this Soldier? Why or why not? If you don’t punish this one, where do you draw the line? What command climate will you set and will this be ok in your command?Think about the recent revelation of the Navy commander video.Some final thoughts…
Online protestsDraft a comprehensive posting/commenting policy and post it to your social media platforms. This will help your organization manage organized protests.Monitor protests and delete comments that violate your posting policies. For documentation purposes, take screenshots of violations before deleting.The UCMJ applies online too, so report threats of violence that occur during online protests to the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) on your installation. Imposter AccountsReport imposter social media accounts using the platform’s reporting mechanism (see next slide.) If a senior Army leader is being impersonated, make sure to report the incident to the Online and Social Media Division immediately. Unofficial presencesBe on the lookout for unofficial social media presences. Make sure they do not claim to be the “official” source of organization information.Work with unofficial site administrators. Try to coordinate efforts. Register official organization Pages and get a vanity URL.
Most modern digital cameras do not automatically add geolocation metadata to pictures, but that is not always true. Camera owners should study their camera’s manual and understand how to turn off GPS functions.People can tag a location on their photos, even if their camera does not have a GPS function. Many photosharing applications give the user the opportunity to geotag a photo. In some cases, these geotags can add context to a photo, but when it comes to Army operations, geotagging operational photos could be dangerous.Users can delete geotagged photos, but once the information is out there, it’s out of the user’s hands. Even if posted briefly, the enemy can capture vital information and record exact grid coordinates of troop populations.Besides geotagging, there are other items of OPSEC concern, like posting dangerous information to websites:
Registering sites with us helps us to help you.1. By registering your page at www.army.mil/socialmedia, we can add it to our monthly list of official pages that we submit to Facebook, for example. We have an agreement with Facebook that they will remove any advertising from official pages. This way it does not appear that your unit is endorsing an particular products, and it prevents targeting advertisement to military audiences, which could become problematic.2. It provides a one-stop-shop for people looking for sites for particular units.3. It provides us with the contact information so we can get in touch with the page manager if we notice something wrong, or if we need to put out important information to the whole group of administrators.