The role of social media in the military

Abstract

We now live in a digital, interconnected world. Social media has emerged as a pervasive component of this digital age in which having an online presence dominates. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all provide modern forms of engagement for organisations including the military. However, the dangers of these brisk and innovative forms of communication should not be overlooked. Social media can capture a wealth of information regarding an organisation’s operations, functions, roles, responsibilities, projects and related details about the Information and Communication Technology (ICT). In the wrong hands, this information can be leveraged into intelligence that can be further utilised to profile individuals or launch cyber attacks. This paper discusses the role that social media can play in the military- both beneficial and detrimental. It does so by presenting the arguments for its positive uses, as well as how it can be manipulated for malicious purposes. Social media can be utilised by individual and leaders in the military as an effective form of modern communication that serves as a helpful and dynamic tool for interaction. However, social media can also be utilised for malevolent uses like malware propagation and terrorist propaganda . In this paper, the beneficial and adverse functionality of social media is explored so as to discuss its useful contributions to the military, as well as create awareness of how it can be negatively exploited.