03 March 2009

The Benefit of Unit Blogs

In addition to individual Soldier blogging exploits, there is benefit for individual units to maintain blogs. There exist a growing number of blogs created by military organizations which serve to provide command information to the public or enable internal communication. These are often seen as outputs of propaganda at worst and, at best, providing no new insightful information. To improve their effect, a unit blog should be maintained by a responsible and effective writer within the organization. The blog should provide information similar to what is often provided to families through family readiness channels or to the public through press releases. A unit blog could also maintain links to blogs of Soldiers in the organization. This would provide a way for the organization to keep up with its Soldiers’ blogs and, more importantly, provide interested readers with a more detail on the activities of that unit. By maintaining such a blog at the unit level, readers would be presented with a broader perspective than they currently can get by looking at somewhat random individual blogs, it could significantly assist in the distribution of stories that otherwise don't get told or are buried in other press outlets, and potentially could serve as a link between official statements through traditional PA channels and the very unofficial stories told by milbloggers.

5 comments:

  1. Jakob-

    Didn't know if you had seen any of the comments of late on the CAC blog (http://usacac.leavenworth.army.mil/BLOG/blogs/cgsc_student_blog/archive/2009/02/27/blog-policy-flawed.aspx) and (http://usacac.leavenworth.army.mil/BLOG/blogs/dlro/archive/2009/02/10/strategic-communications-strutting-rooster-or-quiet-professional.aspx?CommentPosted=true#commentmessage), but some posters have suggested that it should not be in our lane to engage the public as we tend to get drawn into advocating policy.

    Didn't know if you had had discussions about that yet here or not.

    - Grant Martin
    MAJ, US Army
    SAMS

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  2. Grant - Thanks for your comments. No, I had not seen those posts on the CAC blog yet! Very good discussions. I certainly hadn't considered the legal arguments made in the first link you mentioned.
    Both posts bring up some good point/counterpoint that the folks currently working on the Army's blog policy guidance should consider. Also some things that commanders need to think about as they craft unit-level policies to implement the Army's guidance on new media engagement by Soldiers.
    Thanks again for bringing these discussions to my attention.

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  3. No problem- although I'm still on the fence about what is "in our lane". I see an argument that if our engagement saves lives- or seems to save lives, then it could be good. But, the causal links are tough to show.

    Bottom line to me is that we aren't doing a great job communicating- so practise to me would be good. The risk, of course, is that we get off message or ruin a tradition of trust because of our non-engagement.

    - Grant

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  4. I agree wholeheartedly that the worst thing we could do is encourage a bunch of guys to get out there blogging but not equip them with the right tools - like sending them to war with second-rate equipment.
    To avoid this, the need for training/education about blogging and writing, regular discussion about talking points, trusting Soldiers to behave and write responsibly, and genuine interest in engagement by leaders (not just those at the top ... all the way down the chain) are all important to consider.
    This idea is probably not right for every unit because it's not a good for every commander. And if one thing is sure, for blogs to have a positive strategic impact, the commanders of Soldier bloggers have got to be behind it!

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  5. Grant - Thanks for your comments. No, I had not seen those posts on the CAC blog yet! Very good discussions. I certainly hadn't considered the legal arguments made in the first link you mentioned. sports picks

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