Just wanted to share a very interesting article by Tim Mak on the way the IDF is using social media to fight their online battle for hearts and minds..
As always, you can be against the Israelis, but they sure know how to use new tech. in their advantage.
Interesting: where i keep saying that centralized use of social media is not effective, the Israelis are not about to listen to me( I wonder why 🙂 since they blocked social media for their individual soldiers last july.
In the 2006 war with Gaza cyberwarfare already was a big deal for the IDF, in the future this will only grow.
If they are able to counter a well managed social media offensive by their adversaries (Hezbollah, Hamas et cetera) with a topdown approach, well done! It should be a great test case for social media policymakers in Defence organizations around the world.
Quick share: The first research results are being published on the use of social media during the #UK riots. One study, published august 16th, i came accross this morning is worth sharing here, since it suggest that the absence of censorship helps control the amount of unrest in the ‘real’ world. It also suggest that the more censorship you impose, the more chance there is for violence. Now thats something different than what prime minister Cameron suggested and what other leaders around the world, even in our country suggest: that more strict rules and control should be imposed to keep things nice and peacefull; or at least that more cooperation with the companies providing those platforms should be undertaken (what this ‘cooperation exactly ammounts to is not really clear, so thats can be a bit of an issue.)
To me, this study is another great argument for allowing the use of social media, ESPECIALLY in times of unrest, or in special situations. Social media is not the same as traditional media, the rules and practices are different, so stop using the old media’s controlmechanisms, studies like these show that those have their downsides as well.
It looks like their is another source of information popping up from Syria; the soldiers doing the dirty work are filming their actions. These video’s are becoming a new kind of bounty. In Lybia they stole someones smartphone? as a trophy, here they show off their deeds online. I wonder if these folks understand what the potential spread of these video’s is. What do they want to share with us, the viewer? Is it really a trophy, like the people in Lybia taking dead fighters phones? Is it a ‘ look mom, i can shoot my gun and beat prisoners’ kind of video, is it something to share amongst friends, is it ment for the family archive? These intentions are important if we want to understand the story the soldiers are sharing. Maybe they dont know themselves and they just do it because they can.
I like big buts though: in Syria’s almost lighttight censorshiprule you have to be carefull in jumping to conclusions about leaking videos that where not ment to be online. Maybe they áre ment to be online and that mr.Assad is taking the online battle for the framing of the Syrian showdown to the next level, not only beating the protesters on facebook (bit of an old link, still actual), but also increasingly countering their shaky video’s on youtube.
Syria knows its social media, so be carefull when ananlysing these vid’s.
Second time i’m making a short list of the blog, twitter and youtube activity i found online about the Coalition presence in Afghanistan, as shared by members of the military organisations active in Afghanistan. Its not claiming to be complete, its just what i found in a tour around the net.
(2 days ago i tried this for the first time, and i kinda liked it, so lets give it another shot.) This time however, i will continue in Dutch for youtube and twitter (most of the info i found was Dutch, so thats why).
The first though is milblogs, one post today, on the updates on the biggest milblogportal worldwide: milblogging.com
Check out this link for the latest additions to the military weblogs family, which is growing ever bigger, just look at the numbers.
Welcome to Milblogging.com, a daily snapshot of the top milblogs, milblogs by … Wednesday September 07, 2011, Milblogging.com currently has 3148 military blogs in 46 countries with 16869 registered members. Let us know what you think …
Dan Twitter, waar de meeste activiteit ging over de etymologische discussie over politie -dan wel trainingsmissie in Kunduz. De zoekterm Defensie Afghanistan leverde de volgende bloemlezing op: (er waren veel RT’s dus niet alles genoemd)
Minister van Defensie filosofeert over de missie in Kunduz. (column) http://t.co/LeLK2BJ
Another Twittermessage from Kunduz was found on the international Twitter with the Keyword Kunduz alone.. guess from who? the Islamic Emerat of Afghanistan, its the talibantwitter makin its move! Notice the term ‘invading troops’.
US invading troops in a night raid abducted 3 innocent noncombatant civilians in Ali Abad district of Kunduz province: http://t.co/LiufQNJBy NEWSFROMASIA at 09/07/2011 20:19
On youtube some videos emerged, all official press video in the Netherlands., so not interesting here
Abroad? mostly official, some here:<a type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="allowscriptaccess" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
Marine Reservists aid in Afghanistan food deliveryHELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan-1st Lt. Andrev Swedenborg, of Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, discusses a food distribution mission to villages in Helmand province. Video courtesy Regional Command Southwest Public Affairs
Marines from 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division use line charges to clear the bazaar of any IEDS in the district of Musa Qalah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. Produced by Cpl. Bryan Nygaard
Lt Mark Evison of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards shot and killed in Haji Alem area of Nad-e-Ali district, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was attempting to get his malfunctioning radio equipment working. May 2009
in afghanistan our forces dont have the luxury of a safe secure 9 to 5 job, they fight the insurgents and for each other, everyday not knowing if they will be making the journey home at the end of the tour, so heres to them …Salute. Music by Linkin…
Just read that Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter, is causing sleepless nights for the Government. Social media in an autoritharian regime is not all that great to keep your population at bay. So, some cyberutopians start mesmerizing about a twitter uprising already.
Uhuh, nope, Dream on! Cyberutopian alert! Lets not forget that people using Weibo are not all trying to overthrow the government and you can trust the good ‘ol Chinese Party to keep a keen eye on anything suspicious happening on those platforms. I dont believe that it will cause big trouble in Little China.
It does show that social media challenges the existing ways to control the flows of information. But a challenge is not by far the forerunner of a revolution.
But Maarten, for Gods sake, why so careful? Its a great new development, the first rays of light peeking through the slowly opening doors to democracy and freedom for all Chinese, i can hear some of my friends say.
I would say to that: Dont get me wrong, i am a strong believer in social media and the powers it harnasses to mobilise (not organise!) large groups of people.
But heres my point: just because Twitter has proven some kind of mobilising ability elsewhere in the world will not make its bastardchild Weibo work in some Chinese province we never heard of.
Benghazi is not Shanghai, The Tahir square not Tienaminsquare. If Weibo or Twitter gain in momentum it wil be because of the people using it, not because of the medium itself. People will have to be willing to organise protests. Weibo can help mobilising people for these protests. But without some people organising in real life, nothing will happen. I am convinced of that.
The organising party will not be succesful or unsuccesfull BECAUSE OF social media. Its just a tool. A great tool, but just a tool.
To keep the debate going, here’s a link to a piece by Aaron Brady: very interesting, it helped me focussing your view on the China – social media debate as well. so, just to have an excuse to link to his piece, here it is.
Here a quick scan of the twitter/ blog and youtube activity on social media and the Dutch Defence Department i came accross on my daily round of social media today. I am planning to do this on a regular -though not EVERYday- basis. Why? ‘cause i dont have a site that does this for me yet.
This post, and more posts in the future will be used as an extra curationtool for myself, and hopefully some readers, to keep updated on the ongoing discussion on social media within a military organisation. I will keep a special eye on the dutch defence department. But where necessary -necessary defined by me on the basis of what i find interesting 🙂 – i’ll post on social media developments in other countries as well.
Hope u like it!
Today twitters on Dutch Defence
Hans Damen focust on the great way in which the american military is active on social media. Funny that so little people realise the immense gap between the dutch and the american social media approach. Google translate will help the foreign visitors understanding the weird lingo: Its called Dutch.
Overzicht US Army op social media. Chefs #defensie en #landmacht actief op Twitter en Facebook. http://t.co/r3XUqBk
Another post is on the upcoming reorganisation in the dutch military, it got a whopping three RT’s, as far as i found. For 1000 new servicemembers not a very effective use of Twitter.
Defensie zoekt ruim 1.000 nieuwe militaire werknemers voor een baan in 2012.
RT @MennoLittel: Servicepunt #Defensie heeft twitter! RT @ServiceDefensie: Defensie zoekt ruim 1.000 nieuwe militaire werknemers voor een baan in 2012.
No video’s uploaded this week on youtube listening to calls with keywords: Soldiers Afghanistan, Soldier Afghanistan, Kunduz Afghanistan,
Checking last months uploads i found some the following links -used only the six results that i found relevant. It involves both vernacular stories uploaded by soldiers and official video’s: you check out the differences. I know Iraq is also still happening, but no Dutch there, so focussing on Afghanistan.
I take no credit for this video, original upload by YouTube user ‘army18x’ Footage shot in Tangi Valley, Wardak Province Afghanistan ~2011. TAGS: US Army in iraq attacks insurgent positions apache attack helicopter gunship gun run afghanistan iraq ta…
The trade routes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border is key to jump starting the Afghan economy. Air Force Staff Sgt. Chad Usher was at the border and shows us how a joint team is helping to keep the commerce moving. Includes sound bites from Maj. …
This edition features a story about how the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, or Ramazan as its known in Afghanistan, emphasizes different lessons, including charity to those less fortunate. Sometimes charity means more than just giving money. Soundbite …
This edition features stories on one C-12 pilot’s last flight as a member of the military, how the Combined Security Forces lead their own presence patrols in Kirkuk, and what two Soldiers, stationed at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, do in supp…
Soldiers with Delta Company 126 patrol the outlying area of Combat Outpost Narizah on a regular basis. Marine Sgt. Todd Crowell went out with the Soldiers to find out what their daily job was all about. Provided by American Forces Network Afghanistan…
Wanted to share a thought that occured to me while reading a report by Pew on the demographics of social media users in the US.
The #UKriots i also made some comments on may fit one conclusion of the report. In the conlusion the report states (and i quote): We did find that people who are already likely to have large overall social networks – those with more years of education – gravitate to specific SNS platforms, such as LinkedIn and Twitter. When looking at the use of social media and Blackberries in the #UKriots i already noticed that the rioters used blackberries to organise, while the cleanup was organised mostly through Twitter. Maybe this is because of the social status the different groups have; the rioters underclass, lower middleclass, the cleanup preppry academics with good education (or singing in some majorselling stadiumfilling band)
So, if this is true, there is not only a digital divide in age, which is closing looking at the pewreport. There is also another divide amongst social media users themselves. Maybe the UK riots where a glimpse into this divide. Interesting times.
The fall of the Ghadaffi regime (for now, he has not been caught yet) gives a unique insight into the world of online monitoring by autoritharian regimes. As i wrote in earlier posts and what mr. Evgeny Morozov has explained in great detail in his book ‘The Net Delusion’ (BUY IT!) the internet gives ample opportunities to regimes to spy on their own people. For regimes such as Ghadaffi’s a very interesting tool to maintain in power.
Some findings include that the regime knew about a lot, and by a lot, i mean A LOT. Another finding is chilling, yet not suprising. There was help from abroad: French, South African, Chinese systems where used and manuals where found. So you have ‘democratic’ regimes building systems for such dictators to oppress its own people. It is one thing building a one off unique electric fiat 500, like the one shown below, but helping the Lybian Stasi to collect date which can lead to arrests (and a treatment that does not exactly involve polite interrogation)? Someone start an ethical discussion, please.
I shows again that the internet was percieved as safe, but turned out to be just as dangerous to gather as the local coffeebar crammed with listeningdevices and secretagents with cheap cigarettes observing your every move through holes in a newspaper..
In this there is a awkward paradox: The the last resort for the opposition was the internet, where they used westernbuild social media networking sites to organise themselves, while at the same time this last dark alleyway in the digital realm of Lybia was flooded with the cybersearchlights of monitoringsoftware made partly in the West as well.
How paradoxal, how cynical.
The talks between British Government and Twitter/Facebook and Blackberry representatives are called ‘constructive’.
Lets hope that both parties find a way that balances the freedom of speech and the freedom of internet with the need for some sort of control by a third party, such as the UK government. It is not clear yet what is ment with ‘criminal behaviour’ , or ‘working together to keep people safe’ and ‘reacting firmly’ What does it all mean? In China the government is very ‘firm’, mr. Assad is very firm… Ofcourse a bit of a cynical comparison, but i think that the people drafting the policies must think out their plans carefully and make clear definitions of all those terminology. The line between a government arresting people for saying stuff they dont like or dont find appropriate and arresting people for really saying nasty hatebreeding stuff is a thin one in some cases.
Small tip from modest me: Set clear rules as a government, this will help social media users. If the rules are clear, people will be free to use internet within those boundaries. If the rules are unclear, people will stay away from the borders, you never know when you will cross the line. People not expressing themselves because they are rather safe than sorry should not be the outcome.
Second tip: dont make the rules to strict, this will help the government, but thats besides the point. Intern regulation should be about the people using internet in a way thats free, but with some clear guidelines. Just as people using the road, or the bus.
Very curious how this is going to work out in the near future.
Just wanted to share a very interesting article by Tim Mak on the way the IDF is using social media to fight their online battle for hearts and minds..
socialmediaanddmocracy.wordpress.com 