Social media in the front line
Tweeting from work... for work, of course.
US troops are being allowed access to social networking sites including Twitter and Facebook, it was reported on Saturday. According to officials in the US Defence Department, the benefits of using social media far outweigh threats to security.
Like many companies and organisations, the US military are using social media for recruitment, public relations and communications between troops. Military personnel also use such sites to communicate with their families back home.
Until now, the military’s approach to using social networking sites had been inconsistent. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has a prolific following on Twitter, while the US Southern Command gave updates on relief work in Haiti through the microblogging site. But the US Army and Marine Corps banned access to Twitter, and other social networks.
Now it seems the Defence Department is embracing the positive benefits of social media. But the question faced by the department, like by many organisations across the world, is how to use social media effectively, how to take advantage of the possibilities provided by the technology, and how to avoid being taken advantage of.
Just a day before the BBC reported the US Defence Department’s decision, the Daily Telegraph carried a more negative social media story when it revealed that Greater Manchester Police officers had been accused of spending too much time on Twitter whilst on duty – Tweets on the beat were not entirely the PR friendly exercise it was hoped they would be.
During a crackdown on alcohol-fuelled violence, police officers were permitted to tweet their progress to keep the public up to date with their actions. More than 90 tweets were sent, but instead of being impressed, the police force’s followers thought that the tweets were too frequent, and commented that the officers should be more concerned in doing their job than updating their status.
Twitter has also been frowned upon by a number of local councils. Swansea Council banned tweeting during council meetings, followed closely by Salford Council, whose ban extended to journalists covering the events. Iain Lindley, a Conservative councillor for Salford, told ConservativeHome that he disagreed with the ban because Twitter “allowed residents to see democracy in action.” Further, he argued, the tweets brought “more transparency and openness” to local government.
The forthcoming General Election is going to be the first of the Social Media age. Barack Obama proved just how beneficial social networks could be to an election campaign during his run for president, and the battle lines have already been drawn by UK parties, who are embracing the likes of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in their campaigns – with varying degrees of success. (Remember Gordon Brown’s creepy smile when discussing MPs’ expenses, which got him all the wrong kind of publicity?)
Social media is something that must be used wisely and well to get the results you want for your business or organisation. I think David Wennergren, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Information Technology in the US, sums it up perfectly.
“We need to take advantage of the capabilities that are out there…” he told the BBC. “The idea is to be responsible and use [social media] to help get the job done.”
This is sound advice for any business, large or small. To find out how LexisClick can help with your social media strategy, contact us today.
Read the full BBC story.
The Daily Telegraph’s story about Greater Manchester Police.
And Iain Lindley’s comments on ConservativeHome here.
