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

世界日益相互关联和复杂。国防部门对此的一个回应是“战略通信”，简而言之，这是国防部和英国军方试图通过通信，特别是媒体通信，提高国防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（特别是敌人和平民）的行为态度，媒体和社交媒体处于这些战略传播举措的最前沿，因为它们为国防部和军方提供了参与和影响他人的独特机会（参见Maltby &索纳姆，2012; Maltby，2010）。最近，社交媒体因其即时性、流动性和联网能力而被认为在这方面特别有效：Facebook和Twitter对于实现战略目标的重要性不亚于舒拉会议和主流媒体报道（DCDC，2012年）。然而，与此同时，媒体（和媒体参与）的影响-在战略传播理论中称为“现在媒体”（DCDC 2012：2-7）-是不可预测的，不可控制的，往往是即时的。社交媒体尤其不稳定，因为它不能像主流媒体那样被理解。这不仅对战略传播举措，而且对更广泛的防御实践产生了真实的不确定性和风险。这一点可以从几个方面加以阐述。首先，通过社交媒体和在社交媒体中出现的信息的不可预测性和速度可能（以持续的方式）重新塑造政治和公众对国防活动的看法，从而损害战略目标。当关于内部军事人员行动的信息可能构成最大风险时，这种风险程度会进一步加剧;例如士兵侵犯人权的行为（另见Gowing，2009年）。其次，尽管努力了解“受众”和“用户”，特别是那些与国防行动有关的（即。阿富汗平民、服役人员家属）、社交媒体的接收者和作者仍然不可预测（基本上是不可知的）。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”的，那么通信和社交媒体参与的可行性、成功性和安全性都可能受到严重破坏。第三，与此相关的是，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生命方面（DMC，2009年）。总的来说，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，这是社交媒体在国防部门内外的模糊性的特征。正是在这种背景下，D.U.N项目询问在战略沟通计划中使用社交媒体，以更好地了解如何在战略环境中理解和应对风险。为此，我们要问国防部和英国军方试图通过社交媒体实现什么目标，他们是如何做到的，他们如何看待风险，以及他们如何产生风险？我们还问用户（特别是现役士兵，他们的家人和退伍军人）是如何使用社交媒体来研究在何种程度上这可能会影响来自国防部的战略举措。最后，我们通过跟踪谁，什么和什么时候人们参与，这是如何涉及到战略通信目标的社会媒体的使用映射的现实？在此过程中，DUN项目调查并阐明了国防行为者认为他们正在做的事情与他们实际正在做的事情之间的真实的紧张关系，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.