U.S. Army using social media as new recruitment strategy

The United States Army is now using Facebook, Twitter and its own blog called “Army Live” to recruit new people, and to give soldiers and their families a place to connect.  This is according to a NY Daily News article by Stephanie Gaskell.  And according to an article from the Army News Service, the social networking pages and the blog were launced by the new Online and Social Media Division of Army Public Affairs.  Gaskell points out that  the Army’s Facebook page has about 3,000 friends, and it has more than 5,000 followers on Twitter.  It’s interesting to note that on the Army’s Twitter page, the bio section points out that “Following does not = endorsement.”  

The U.S. Army wants you – to be its friend on Facebook.   You can also follow the Army on Twitter. Or post a comment on its new blog. They’re all part of the Army’s new mission: social networking.  “If Ashton Kutcher can do it, the U.S. Army can do it,” said Lindy Kyzer, who posts the Army’s “status updates” on Facebook and “tweets” on Twitter. [...] “We know that our ability to share the Army story is shaped by how we tell it and where we tell it,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Arata, who heads the Army’s new Online and Social Media Division. “Using social media platforms allows us to tell our story where we know people are at and are listening.”

I also recommend this article from ReadWriteWeb on how the U.S. State Department is sending Twitter to Iraq “to bring the microblogging service into government and civil society there.”

Funniest Twitter article to date.

The New York Times posted a funny opinion piece about Twitter, titled “To Tweet or Not to Tweet.” The writer, columnist Maureen Dowd, interviewed the inventors of the social networking site, Biz Stone and Evan Williams. She asked the tough questions…

ME: I would rather be tied up to stakes in the Kalahari Desert, have honey poured over me and red ants eat out my eyes than open a Twitter account. Is there anything you can say to change my mind?

BIZ: Well, when you do find yourself in that position, you’re gonna want Twitter. You might want to type out the message “Help.”

Be sure the check out the entire piece for more laughs.

From Facebook to Twitter Convocation Slideshow

On Monday March 2, 2009 Belmont University’s “Practicum Pioneers” hosted a convocation event entitled From Facebook to Twitter: Rules, Rights and Realities of Social Networks. A panel of experts to discussed the latest controversies regarding online social networks, privacy issues and copyright laws. Panelists to included the Freedom Forum’s Gene Policinski, Nashville attorney Doug Pierce (a specialist in media/First Amendment issues), Belmont Web Developer Paul Chenoweth, journalism student Abby Selden and Nashvillest.com co-founder Morgan Levy.

Click here to view a slideshow of photos detailing the events and to add your own comments!

Some say social media could be used to boost national security

In a recent UPI article, National Defense University researcher Mark Drapeau says the U.S. Department of Defense should consider using social media for national defense purposes.  Drapeau points out the recent terrorist attacks in India, and how quickly information about the attacks spread through sites like Twitter.  He says the India bombings are just one demonstration of how potentially powerful social networking can be if used for national defense.

Drapeau has called on the Defense Department to develop a comprehensive strategy for utilizing social-media technologies to support U.S. government strategic security objectives.  “It’s still important to be aware of the power and reach of these tools,” Drapeau said, according to Nextgov.  “If you work in national security, some of these things happening in other countries may affect your job or mission. What’s happening over the past couple years is people in other countries are using Facebook, Twitter and blogs to organize. In some cases, even when government security knew it was happening, they were overwhelmed by the amount of people who show up.”

Twitter: Does “Fast News” Threaten Our Sense of Morality?

Pete Cashmore tweeted about this story on cnn.com.
The article states that according to scientists, receiving rapid news from sources such as Twitter, might numb our sense of morality and make us indifferent to human suffering.
Below are a few excerpts from the article, explaining what some scientists believe to be consequences of using tools like Twitter to get your news:

New findings show that the streams of information provided by social networking sites are too fast for the brain’s “moral compass” to process and could harm young people’s emotional development.

Before the brain can fully digest the anguish and suffering of a story, it is being bombarded by the next news bulletin or the latest Twitter update, according to a University of Southern California study.

“If things are happening too fast, you may not ever fully experience emotions about other people’s psychological states and that would have implications for your morality,” said researcher Mary Helen Immordino-Yang.

I can agree with these scientists to a certain extent, but the research does not take into account the fact that many “tweets” are links to more in depth stories, allowing the user to take more time, if desired, to absorb and digest the information. Tweets regarding hard news stories, in particular, do seem to link to full stories the majority of the time.
One thing researchers must take into consideration is that there are many options as far as where people can get their news, and people will consume the stories that most interest them. On the other hand, with all the options out there, we cannot make people consume or even care about stories they are not interested in, regardless of how important they may be.
So…are we being desensitized by “fast news?” Pete Cashmore clearly does not think so. What do you think?

More Twitter news – but probably not what you’d expect.

Mindy McAdams posted a link on Twitter to an interesting story: “Twitter Traffic Explodes…And Not Being Driven by the Usual Suspects!” 

According to Sarah Radwanick, the writer of the article, the individuals “driving the trend” are between the ages of 25 and 54. More specifically, the age group using Twitter the most is actually between 45 and 54. I found this information surprising; shouldn’t the “young people,” those of us between 18 and 24, be eating up social media? Why are people our parents’ age so interested in this tool?

Radwanick has an interesting perspective…

“The skew towards older visitors, although perhaps initially surprising for a social media site, actually makes more sense than you might think at first. With so many businesses using Twitter, along with the first generations of Internet users “growing up” and comfortable with technology, this is a sign that the traditional early adopter model might need to be revisited. Not only teenagers and college students can be counted among the “technologically inclined,” which means that trends are much more prone to take off in older age segments than they used to.”

Good points, right? Now that I think about it, I actually follow quite a few “older” people on Twitter – and typically, they’re the ones posting the most relevant and interesting information.

Hilarious mockumentary – “Flutter: The New Twitter”

Check out this hilarious mockumentary, which follows the development of a fictional service, called Flutter, which takes Twitter to the next level.  Forget micro-blogging, Flutter is nano-blogging!

Courtney Love sued for ‘malicious’ Twitter posts

Famous (or perhaps infamous?) rock star Courtney Love is being sued for defamation after posting ‘malicious’ comments on her Twitter and Myspace accounts about her former fashion designer, Dawn Simorangkir.

“According to a libel claim filed by Simorangkir in Los Angeles Superior Court March 26, Love used Twitter to disseminate “an obsessive and delusional crusade” of malicious libel against her. Simorangkir, who’s based in Austin, Texas, also claims Love slandered her on MySpace.”

It will be interesting to see how this one turns out. Other celebs, such as Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, are also dealing with Twitter troubles.

What do you think about celebs with Twitter accounts? Are they asking for trouble or should they be free to use to use the service along with the rest of the world?

Who will monetize social media?

In the Mashable article “Who Will Monetize Social Media?”, author Ben Parr discusses the  front-runners in the race to establish a viable and sustainable way to monetize social media.  Parr says the top candidates are Facebook, Twitter and Apple mobile media.  The Mashable poll accompanying this article asks readers “Who will be the leader in monetizing social media?”  The results were mixed, with 15 percent of people responding that “There will be no one leader.”  But the option getting the largest number of votes was Apple mobile applications, with 27 percent of the votes.  Parr says that while Apple itself is not a social media outlet, the incredible success of the iPhone demonstrates how indispensable Apple may be a social enabler.

Apple isn’t a social media company, so why does it get a spot on this list? The answer is the wild success of the iPhone application store. Apple has succeeded where Facebook has not – in monetizing third party applications. On top of that, it has created a vibrant marketplace for mobile social media.  Will that innovation lead to more social media companies turning to mobile devices for monetization, a place where people seem more comfortable paying for software?

Twitter… Would you pay for more features?

If you could get more features on Twitter, would you shell out the cash?

Dan Frommer reports that “Twitter Confirms Paid Pro Accounts On The Way.”  What does this mean to you? Possibly nothing… But it could mean a lot to businesses, companies and Twitter-fanatics.

“In exchange for a fee, companies could get “more features” on Twitter, the WSJ reports. Twitter cofounder Biz Stone tells the WSJ that the company recently hired a product manager to help develop those accounts, but doesn’t specify what the extra features will be or when the accounts will launch.

This makes perfect sense. There’s a lot of stuff companies would pay Twitter for, such as a way to verify the company rep’s legitimacy; to more analytics and information about who is reading their Twitter page; to better tracking features to see what people are saying about their company.”

Is an enhanced Twitter account worth paying for? Could it be beneficial – or is Twitter serving its ultimate purpose already?