Defence, Uncertainty, Now Media (D.U.N): Mapping Social Media in Strategic Communications

世界日益相互联系，日益复杂。国防部门对此的一种回应是“战略沟通”，简而言之，这是国防部(MoD)和英国军方试图通过沟通，特别是媒体沟通来增强其防御能力和管理冲突的手段。从使战争行动合法化到影响冲突地区人民(特别是对手和平民)的行为态度，媒体和社交媒体处于这些战略沟通举措的前沿，因为它们为国防部和军方提供了接触和影响他人的独特机会(见Maltby&Thornham，2012；Maltby，2010)。最近，社交媒体因其即时性、移动性和联网能力而被认为在这方面特别有效：Facebook和Twitter对于实现战略目标已经变得与舒拉会议和主流媒体报道一样重要(DCDC，2012)。然而，同时，媒体(和媒体参与)--在战略传播学说(DCDC 2012：2-7)中被称为‘现在媒体’--的影响是不可预测的、不可控制的，而且往往是立竿见影的。社交媒体的波动性尤其大，因为它不能像主流媒体那样被理解。这不仅给战略沟通倡议，而且也给更广泛的防务实践带来了真正的不确定性和风险。这一点有多种表达方式。首先，通过社交媒体和在社交媒体中涌现的信息的不可预测性和速度可能会以一种损害战略目标的方式重新(持续地)改变政治和公众对国防活动的看法。如果有关国内军事人员行动的信息可能构成最大的风险，例如士兵侵犯人权，这种风险就会进一步加剧(另见高英，2009年)。第二，尽管努力理解“观众”和“用户”，特别是与防御行动有关的那些(即。社会媒体的接受者和作者(阿富汗平民、现役人员家属)、接受者和作者仍然是不可预测的(而且基本上是未知的)。简而言之，如果国防部和军方不知道用户是谁，为什么或何时连接，沟通和社交媒体参与的生存能力、成功和安全可能会受到严重破坏。第三，社交媒体被认为对国防行动的安全构成重大风险，特别是在行动安全和军事人员的生命安全方面(DMC，2009年)。总体而言，在国防部和英国军方成员对社交媒体的理解和使用中，存在着机会和风险的内在矛盾，这是国防部门内外社交媒体模棱两可的特点。正是在这一背景下，D.U.N项目对社交媒体在战略传播倡议中的使用进行了调查，以更好地了解在战略环境中如何理解和应对风险。为此，我们问国防部和英国军方试图通过社交媒体实现什么，他们是如何做到的，他们是如何构思风险的，他们可能会如何产生风险？我们还询问用户(特别是现役士兵、他们的家人和退伍军人)如何使用社交媒体来检查这可能在多大程度上影响国防部发出的战略倡议。最后，我们通过跟踪谁、什么以及何时参与，以及这与战略传播目标之间的关系，来描绘社交媒体使用的现实情况。通过这样做，D.U.N项目调查并澄清了国防行为者认为他们正在做的事情与他们实际上正在做的事情之间的真正紧张关系，以更好地理解国防战略中的风险和不确定性概念。

The world is increasingly interconnected and complex. One response to this within the defence sector is 'Strategic Communications' which, in short, is the means through which the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the British Military attempt to enhance their defence capabilities and manage conflict through communication, particularly media communication. From legitimizing war operations to influencing the attitudes of behaviors of people in a conflict zone (particularly adversaries and civilians), media, and social media are at the forefront of these strategic communication initiatives because they offer the MoD and the military distinct opportunities to engage and influence others (see Maltby & Thornham, 2012; Maltby, 2010). More recently, social media has been considered particularly effective in this regard by virtue of its immediacy, mobility, and networked capabilities: Facebook and Twitter have become as important to the attainment of strategic objectives as Shura meetings and mainstream media coverage (DCDC, 2012). Yet, simultaneously the effect of media (and media engagement) - termed 'Now Media' in Strategic Communications doctrine (DCDC 2012: 2-7) - is unpredictable, uncontrollable and often immediate. Social media is especially volatile because it cannot be understood in the same way as mainstream media. This generates real uncertainty and risk for not only Strategic Communication initiatives but also for wider defence practice. This is articulated in a number of ways. Firstly, the unpredictability and speed of information emerging through and in social media can reconfigure (in a continuous manner) political and public perceptions of defence activities in a manner that is detrimental to strategic objectives. This level of risk is further compounded when information about the actions of internal military personnel may present the greatest risk; for example human rights abuses by soldiers (see also Gowing, 2009). Secondly, despite efforts to understand 'audiences' and 'users', particularly those related to defence operations (ie. Afghan civilians, families of serving personnel), recipients and authors of social media remain unpredictable (and essentially unknowable). In short, if the MoD and military do not know who, why or when users are 'connected' the viability, success and safety of both the communication and social media engagement can be seriously undermined. Thirdly, and related, social media is considered to pose significant risk to the security of defence operations, particularly in terms of operational security and the lives of military personnel (DMC, 2009). Overall then, within the understanding and use of social media by members of MoD and British Military lie the inherent contradictions of opportunity and risk that characterize the ambiguity of social media within (and beyond) the defence sector. It is within this context that the D.U.N Project interrogates the use of social media in Strategic Communication initiatives to better understand how risk is understood and responded to within the strategic environment. To this end, we ask what the MoD and British military are attempting to achieve through - and with - social media, how are they doing it, how do they conceive risk and how might they be generating risk? We also ask how users (particularly serving soldiers, their families and veterans) are using social media to examine the extent to which this may impact upon strategic initiatives emanating from the MoD. Lastly, we map the realities of social media use by tracking who, what and when people engage and how this relates to strategic communications objectives? In so doing, the D.U.N Project investigates and elucidates the real tensions between what defence actors think they are doing, and what they are actually doing to better understand notions of risk and uncertainty in defence strategy.