Abstract
This paper explores the opportunities and challenges of integrating social media in military communication. The underlying social media trends, technology evolution, and trends in technology are explored to synthesis the cost-benefit analysis inherent in social media and military. The paper concludes with measures that ought to be incorporated to ensure the integration of social media with no security vulnerabilities.

Introduction

The 21st Century has experienced a revolution in global communication. Social media has emerged as a new information infrastructure that’s redefining people’s communication and interaction. Boyd & Ellison (2008) notes the birth of Social media can be traced to the introduction of the World Wide Web (WWW) that gained popularity in the ’70s and ’80s. The emergence of personal computers created a stage for social media. The first social media site, Six Degree, was introduced in 1977 and lasted till 2001. Social media hit the mainstream 2003 with increasing access to computers and internet penetration. Subsequently, major social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with a global presence have been launched and over the years emerged integral in our daily lives (Statista, 2019). The “Fourth Screen technology and mobile computing that approached social media with mobile-based platforms redefined social networking by supporting platforms that enable instant sharing of images and videos.

Social Media is defined as a multi-layered system that entails electronic communication that enables users to create online profiles through which they share information, content, personal messages, among other content (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2012). According to Fuchs & Sandoval (2013), social media platforms fosters interaction, sharing, collaboration and participation. The social media landscape has extensively become a platform for communication with family, friends, business stakeholders, and even a critical source of information and entertainment. A distinguishing feature of social media is the viral nature and high mobility of users that enables convenient sharing of information by users (Ryan & Thompson, 2016).

The growth of social media usage has been exponential. While in 2005 the penetration of social media was 5% in the US, the number has exponentially grown to 70% in 2017. Statista, (2019) estimates that more than 2.77 billion social media users across the globe with a majority of internet users accounting as social network users. Since inception, social media has infiltrated our work environments, homes, and media. The market leading social media platform Facebook reports an average of 1.86 billion monthly active users. According to Kaplan & Haenlein (2012), the ever penetrating social media has redefined communication by breaking physical barriers and emerged as a critical medium of generating revenue.

Given the permeance of social media across social units, there has been a decline in formalized censorship of information. Increased integration of social media and paced –evolving and interconnected information environment pauses a challenge to an inflexible and rigid organization. Consequently, the military is taking a proactive path to seizing the social media wave. This paper explores the use of social media in the military, its benefits, and threats and concludes with recommendation effective use of social media in the military.

Productive Use of Social Media

The power of social media can be explained by the ability to create headlines with less than 140 characters by regular people. The platform has emerged as a network of spearheading social good and evil equally. The Arab spring social movement, fundraising to support victims of earthquakes in Nepal, and the US Presidential election are some of the social good attributable to social media. On the contrast, the spread of extremist propaganda and recruitment by terror groups such as ISIS demonstrates the social evil emanating from social media (Ryan & Thompson, 2016).

Social media is vastly expanding and there is a range of platforms on the horizon every day attracting a different type of audience. Garside, et al.,...…exerts potential to destroy the military. Scholarly work by Boyd & Ellison (2008) highlights privacy concern is a critical issue with the increasing popularity of Social media. Online Metadata is emerging as a gold mine while data mining has become an avenue of intelligence gathering. Access of social media information by terrorist organization such as ISIS poses a risk to the military individuals and families. In addition, social media last, hence forms of misconduct by the military personnel reflects poorly on the integrity of the department of defense (Ryan & Thompson, 2016)

Amplified by increasing global internet connectivity, social media is emerging as an instrument of war. The interweb has increasingly become a haven for crowdsourcing criminal services. The Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013 is one such crime orchestrated through the interweb. Terror group has adopted social media to propagate extremist ideologies, recruit members and share tactical information.

Conclusion

Social media has become integral to our lives permeating in diverse political, social and economic lives across the globe. The benefits and opportunities created by social media preclude the threats. The defense department ought to understand the opportunities and threats that social media poses in order to effect buffer strategies. The scale and scope of the benefits and risks of social media in the military unit call for building a secure military social networking interface that protects intelligence in the 21st Century information age. The integration of social media calls for increased sensitization of military members and their families to ensure increased social media responsibility. While banning the use of social media in the military may no longer be an option, states should issue guidelines and offer training on social media safety. Garside et al., (2012) notes that Countries such as South Korea and the US have set a social media pace by adopting guidelines that cultivate a culture safe social media usage.