On Tweetership: The Pitfalls Awaiting Military Leaders on Social Media and How to Avoid Them
Joe Byerly and Dan Vigeant | 06.25.21
There is a problem in the military. Too many leaders identifying themselves as servicemembers (or even as commanders) online pick up their smartphones in a state of heightened excitement after reading an article, someone else’s comments online, or a real-life experience, and then impulsively tweet about it. These tweets can become fodder for journalists, or even worse, inflame the passions of other social media users and create digital dog piles that aren’t representative of military values.
When servicemembers see other military leaders share emotionally charged posts, fight trolls, or, specifically, express outrage over a hot button social or political topic they can get sucked into the mob. We have seen more than one #miltwitter mob go wild in the last year, and it seems like it’s happening at an increasing rate.
Are We Really in Control When We Post on Social Media?
Numerous studies have been conducted to find the neurological link between social media and our brains. Researchers have found that it affects multiple parts of the brain and can be linked to reward processing, social cognition, imitation, and attention. Additionally, our relationship with social media is also being associated with Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. In this modern age of permanent connectivity to the online world, we have essentially equated social media to social belonging.
https://mwi.usma.edu/on-tweetership-the-pitfalls-awaiting-military-leaders-on-social-media-and-how-to-avoid-them/
