To engage the blogger or not to engage, that is the question; Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer, The slings and arrows of outrageous online perceptions, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by information sharing, end them.
This is exactly the question the US Air Force asked when trying to determine the extent to which they would reciprocate, validate, correct, or ignore any ongoing or emerging online conversation. Aye, that’s the rub.
Emergency Management 2.0 received it’s first comment recently which made me curious as to how organizations and government agencies incorporate the inevitable rabble-rousers, shock jocks, and general ne'er do wells that infiltrate or hijack a fledgling constructive conversation. So I began to do a little digging just to see what was out there, and I admit I was somewhat surprised that the best results were coming back about the US Air Force regarding their about-face on social media policy. This leap forward into the social media arena is led by Captain David Faggard, Chief of the Emerging Technologies Office at the Air Force Public Affairs Agency in the Pentagon. (Also runs the Air Force blog)
Captain Faggard's office is, "responsible for developing strategy, policy, and plans for an ever-changing communications landscape"; carrying out the mission to, "use current developing Web 2.0 applications as a way to actively engage conversations between Airmen and the general public". The lofty goal is to have every single Airman as a on-line communicator, all 330,000 of them. (David Scott - WebInkNow)
USAF Involvement in Social Media
The USAF has actively engaged themselves in social media in a number of ways other than the blog they maintain, such as:
- The Blue Tube Channel on YouTube
- Air Force Twitter Feed & Space Command Twitter Feed
- Podcasts and Vodcasts via iTunes
- News Widgets
- Facebook Profile
Rules of Blogger Engagement Infographic
Naturally the Air Force has some great tags for individuals who fit into the various categories, as in "troll" or "rager" who represent the more mischievous and sometimes down right malicious members of the blogosphere. To the "misguided" and the "unhappy customer" who are more open to a mutually beneficial dialogue that will enable a common understanding.
The guidelines themselves are laid out clearly for Airmen to be able to establish a course of action and legitimize a response. Considerations are also given in order to keep the response relevant, valid and articulate.
This flowchart is that it can be easily transposed to other agencies who are looking to incorporate the potential of personnel communication with the public into their strategic communications plans. Without limiting the capacity to those who are directly involved in public information, affairs or relations; instead the greatest resource of the Air Force, it's Airmen, are free to share their story, experiences and struggles.
New Media and the Air Force
This [the guide] is not a comprehensive guide for conducting new media campaigns. It provides exposure to entry-level tools Airmen may use to communicate the Air Force story to broader audiences on the web. As new media is growing, Airmen should stay informed through blogs, independent learning, wikis and other such participatory Web 2.0 tools...
These developments come on the heels of the Air Force policy shift regarding emerging communications tools, and the recognition that traditional mainstream media has grown to include a much wider array of assets.
This guide changes the way the Air Force employs social media and Web 2.0 technology, and positions the Air Force well to communicate transparently with online audiences.With this transparency comes a great deal of individual responsibility that must be instilled through a learning program that will aide Airmen with the subtleties of being communicators, who must find a balance between personal expression and agency policy. Especially in an organization such as the Air Force where security information like location, size and position of force, and proximity of personnel all can be snapped up in one unintentional photo of friends in the foreground.
It is up to the Public Affairs professionals at each level to teach and enforce Air Force new media policy, by training and educating every Airman on the proper use and techniques for engaging in new media. Security is critical and at the source.With both the willingness and decisive nature which the Air Force is operating under, also factoring in the goals that they are training their sights on; it really leaves me incredulous on how corporate and government agencies can still function with the supposition that the media/public paradigm is not shifting, or that traditional protocols for public information have not been rendered moot.
Additional Resources
New Media and the Air Force:
- The U.S. Air Force: Armed with Social Media - David Scott, "Web Ink Now"
- U.S. Air Force: Blogger Rules of Engagement - Thomas Crampton, "Social Media Today"
- The Air Force's Rules of Engagement for Blogging - Joey Devilla, "Global Nerdy"
- Case Study: U.S. Air Force Social & Traditional PR - Dana Theus, "Member-to-Member"
- Air Force makes changes to embrace Web 2.0 - Sam LaGrone, "Air Force Times"
- Enterprise: List of 40 Social Media Staff Guidelines - Laurel Papworth, "Social Network Strategy"
- Do you need a Corporate Social Media Policy? - Janet Fouts, "Social Media Enabler"
- Blogging Policy Examples - Charlene Li, "Groundswell"
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1 comments:
Hey! Thanks for the link and mention. I love USAF's approach here. Very brave, courageous and forward thinking. Great idea to spread the word as to how it can be modeled for other agencies.
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