Social Media and Unconventional Warfare
http://www.soc.mil/swcs/swmag/archiv...ediaAndUW.html
Quote:
Social media — blogs, social-network sites, information aggregators, wikis, livecasting, video sharing — has decisively altered that most extreme of socio-politico acts: revolution. The 2011 Arab Spring revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East were engineered through citizen-centric computer and cellular-phone technologies that streamed web-enabled social exchanges. The Arab Spring has profound implications for the U.S. special-operations mission of unconventional warfare. This article posits that the study, practice and successful execution of future UW must deliberately account for and incorporate social media.
This excellent article is on the Blog, but due to technical problems with our social media it isn't possible to discuss it there, so I opted to transfer it to the council.
LTC Petit's article is a long overdue discussion topic for the Special Forces community. I recall that the last time it was surfaced it was rapidly dismissed by officers who don't understand the power of this new medium. It is a disruptive technology that allows anyone with access to this medium to not only share tactics, coordinate actions, but to upload multimedia (voice, video, images, text, etc.) to shape the narrative and potentially mobilize people to action. It doesn't mean that older forms of information broadcasting are obsolete, radio broadcasts, T.V. programs, leaflet drops, etc. are still useful means in conveying a message, but more often than not the interpretation of these broadcast messages will formed in the realm of social media. Most in the military understand that government officials (including the military) prefer to get their information from official sources, but the people often distrust these sources and prefer to get their information from their peers (to include fellow social media peers).
I initially had two areas that I was critical of regarding this article, the first was that Brian didn't adequately define social media, yet by accident I discovered the images in the article are links to additional information. To gain a better understanding of social media simply click on the image of the SmartPhone. That left me with on critique, and that was Brian's suggestion that Special Forces soldiers in the future given the authorities and situational awareness could use this medium to support their UW mission.
I don't disagree, and definitely support pursuing this, but offer the following observations. First the authorities issue, as many know we're not agile in the information realm, and decisions on what can and can't be shared are often made several levels of command up in the chain of command by those least aware of what is happening the ground. Social media by definition is interactive, and if you can't interact you can't play. I think if we're supporting a resistance movement or insurgency that is competing the domain of social media we risk formally or informally imposing our restrictive authorities on those we're trying to help. It may be better to informally encourage them to act on their own without asking higher for permission. I tried to get Iraqis to do their own MISO without asking permission from us instead of complaining about our slow approval process and complaining about how the insurgents were running circles around us. I suggested it was their country so of course they could make their own decisions, but they wouldn't, so if even if it isn't our intent to interfer with the resistance use of the social media, it could still happen.
Addressing the second point, situational awareness, it is unlikely that our soldiers will have the SA or language skills (in most cases) at least initially, so the best approach may be to provide the means (technology) and maybe some advise on how to project their message and effectively shape the narrative, but ultimately it is the local with the Smartphone that will engage in this domain instead of the SF soldier. One area I would hope we could help with is monitoring the narrative (an expert cell sitting at Fort anywhere in the U.S. can do this) and provide the resistance what the global perceptions of their narrative is, so they can adjust it if they see fit to do so.
I am just happy that the SF community is exploring this, and regardless of what route they ultimately decide to pursue, I hope at a minimum they add a block of instruction on social media to SFQC, and then advanced courses in ANCOC, WOAC, and NPS/SOF curriculum at CGSC, etc.
Moderator's minor note: the thread's title was Social Media and Unconventional Media till today, but the author noted his mistake and it has been corrected.
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the medium is the mess age
That's funny, an article on the importance of social media can't be commented on due to technical difficulties, "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!".:)
Joking aside, and as others are pointing out, the powers of 21st century social media may well be formidable, but potential 'market saturation' of a bogus and unfocussed narrative can now have theatre-wide, even global negative impact. Naturally, this cuts both ways for any respective participants.
The 21st century mediums might do well to also focus on what they hope to manifest with their strategic ectoplasm, not just how many tables they can turn.
Having said that, studies may indicate that humans tend to prefer bogus narratives that pander to their preconceived notions, thus consigning narrative generation to a subordinate position viz the target audience.:rolleyes:
Syria’s online army is simply playing into Assad’s hands
An interesting article IMHO, curious to see the references to the FLN in Algeria; this has been copied from the thread on Media & UW.
Quote:
So does Syria’s uprising need more technologically savvy multimedia activists? Or – to be blunt – does it require more people inside the country blowing things up? In the end, which poses the greater threat to a repressive regime: its atrocities being instantly relayed across the world on Twitter, or a well-armed, tightly organised insurgency?
The 13 months of Syria’s revolt have starkly illustrated the limits of social media as an engine of revolution, and of the claims made for the internet’s transformative power.
Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ads-hands.html
WEB 2.0 and International Relations
Not directly related to Brian's excellent article but this 8:51 minute You Tube video is worth watching (it is the one that Daniel Drezner is referring to in his article below). I hear 20 cents bouncing on the floor as the traditional paradigm is breaking!! :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSZqP...ature=youtu.be
I have seen the future of teaching and it scares the bejeezus out of me
Posted By Daniel W. Drezner Tuesday, April 10, 2012 - 12:46 PM Share
http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/pos...ezus_out_of_me
I like to think of myself as a pretty good teacher. I've been doing this for more than 15 years, and while I've dabbled in the fancier technologies, I've concluded that the meat and potatoes of podium, lectern, chalk, and blackboard have worked the best.
At last week's International Studies Association meetings, however, I participated in a panel on "Transnational Politics and Information Technology," in which Charli Carpenter delivered the following presentation:
(link above)
Now, I'm clearly pretty comfortable with Web 2.0 technologies, and some of the themes Carpenter touches on in this presentation echoes points I've made on this blog and... co-authoring with Carpenter. To be blunt, however, if this is the standard to which future international relations teaching pedagogy will be held... then the future is going to kick my ass.
Seriously, watch the whole thing.
Containing Weapons of Mass Surveillance
A superb headline and title on FP Blog, with a focus on the response of the Syrian state electronically and the recent Executive Order on supplies to Syria:
Quote:
President Obama is on the right track with Monday's executive order, but the United States needs to get tougher on the global digital arms race.
Link:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...ance?page=full
I shall leave aside the clear and present danger at home for weapons of mass surveillance.
On Twitter, It’s Content, Not Contacts That Matter
CWOT, a SWC member, has this intriguing post 'On Twitter, It’s Content, Not Contacts That Matter', which refers to a research finding:
Quote:
“Influence” doesn’t necessarily mean what you think it does. In the age of the social-media celebrity, a glut of Twitter followers or particularly pugnacious sampling of pithy updates are often the hallmarks of an influencer. But new research suggests that influence is situational at best: as people compete for the attention of the broader online ecosystem, the relevance of your message to the existing conversation of those around you trumps any innate “power” a person may have.
The cited research:http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/1203...srep00335.html
For CWOT's comments:http://selectedwisdom.com/?p=620