Blog Posts tagged with "Brian Solis"

Thank you so much for this post. There is so much more everyone has to benefit from using this technology to its fullest than simply ignoring it and letting others talk for us. I am glad to read that there are proponents of using social media within the SOF community. I can only hope we will use it more in the future. As a PAO, I still find that many operators are weary of any PA coverage, social media included. But, our job as PAOs is to help them tell their story, their messages to the public. Not to spill secrets or harm missions. As PAOs, we have to gain their trust and work as a team to demonstrate what we can bring to the table in terms of information dissemination. This can have a lasting positive effect on the mission and can aid SOF forces when interacting with host nations. And, yes I agree really with the last post that if we are marginalized to only cover COMREL events and feel-good stories, we can only be so effective. If we have a way to communicate operations in a way that does not compromise security, we should do so. This way, we are doing our part to contribute to the tactical picture LTJG Donnelly

C.P. – Well put on all accounts. Thank you very much for the comments. I mentioned in the post that if we leave communication to only our senior leaders, we will not succeed in the information war. I also believe that if we continue to silo public communication efforts within any specific directorate (public affairs, IO, SC), we cannot succeed. Defining communication objectives and determining how to achieve them must become part of tactical, operational and strategic planning. My goal is to get others to think about communication objectives when planning and then consider how to disseminate them effectively. Oftentimes, social media is the best platform for getting relevant information out in the timeliest manner possible. Certainly, within special operations, challenges lie in finding the appropriate balance between protecting sensitive information and communicating effectively with key stakeholders. As you alluded, this condition presents a unique opportunity for SOF commanders at all levels, who must operate within the tight constraints of highly classified environments, to become experts in achieving the necessary communication balance and thus serve as an example to the rest of the military. As the current USSOCOM PAO, COL Tim Nye once told me -- Special Operations Forces are recognized globally as leaders in the development and application of tactics, techniques, procedures, and resourcing systems. So too should they be recognized as leaders in the information engagement arena. The same tenets of operational planning and trademarks of SOF leadership: flexibility, adaptability and aggressiveness, need to be adopted for information engagement planning and execution.

Jim, Great way to help convince others find a common bond with Generation X. The biggest opportunity to those of us, is struggling to change our habits from pushing the pencil and the PRINT button to actually learning to read and write vertically. Social media is a brilliant way to stay connected and communicate much more effectivly. Call me old fashioned but...I do love that one-on-one hand shake and eye contact that has seemed to become :o) or =+.... Thanks great blog.

Yes, social media presents a few additional risks, but none that cannot be managed to the benefit of the SOF community. The foremost risk social media presents is that as more personnel outside of the Command suite are allowed to participate there is the potential for an organization's message to get clouded or diffused. Aside from that manageable risk, the perceived risk social media presents to the SOF community and its operations has likely been exaggerated. The resistance the SOF community may have to using social media may be rooted in both a fear of the unknown and a fear of loss of control of its message. Additionally, SOF, as a culture, have traditionally prided themselves on a low public profile often rationalizing limited communication as necessary to protect methods and personnel. Such justifications do not serve the SOF community’s best interests and are impractical given the increasing ease of information sharing and the ubiquity of the internet. Public Affairs appears to be a natural fit to serve as an intermediary between social media outlets and the SOF community, however Public Affairs and SOF appear historically to have an uncomfortable relationship. Public Affairs has often been perceived to provide limited benefit in relation to the risk of giving away some element of operations. As a result, Public Affairs’ external communication is often limited to covering minor stories, such as community relations projects, which garners little attention and interest, or alternatively, press releases of past operations with distribution to traditional media outlets that display little interest in the stories. Today's savvy information consumer wants relevant and timely news and most of what Public Affairs produces for external use does not support either. I have highlighted these issues because those who still find merit in restricting the use of social media have missed the huge change in information distribution and management. Recent unrest