#NowReading War in 140 Characters
Particularly interesting to compare vis a vis current situation
Will be tweeting extracts I find relevant
Particularly interesting to compare vis a vis current situation
Will be tweeting extracts I find relevant
"Social media, I understood, had opened up for individuals vital spaces of communication once controlled exclusively by the state.”
“extraordinary ability of social media to endow ordinary individuals, frequently noncombatants, with the power to change the course of both the physical battlefield and the discourse around it.”
I've seen modern warfare up close, it's clear old frameworks of understanding it are insufficient.We need a new conceptual framework that takes into account how social media has transformed way wars are waged,covered, & consumed.We need to better understand the 21st Century war.
3 trends
Power shifted from hierarchies/institutions to individual citizens & networks of citizens
Narrative dimensions of war becoming more imp than physical
Modern conflicts either take place between a state and a non-state actor or exist somewhere in nebulous region between
Power shifted from hierarchies/institutions to individual citizens & networks of citizens
Narrative dimensions of war becoming more imp than physical
Modern conflicts either take place between a state and a non-state actor or exist somewhere in nebulous region between
"Whereas in war as it is traditionally understood, information operations support military action on the battlefiel, military operations on the ground are now supporting information operations on TV and in cyberspace."
(Balakot strike and subsequent F 16 vs Mig 21 engagement)
(Balakot strike and subsequent F 16 vs Mig 21 engagement)
“Whether you are a president, a soldier, or a terrorist, if you don’t understand how to effectively deploy the power of new media, you may win the odd battle but you will lose a twenty-first-century war, or at least a major part of it”
Social media increases ideological divides-
-People increasingly depend on it for inputs
- Platform algorithms ensure "homophily" - pushing in content from like minded sources reinforcing opinions & divides
- Opportunities for direct (online) conflict with opposing views
-People increasingly depend on it for inputs
- Platform algorithms ensure "homophily" - pushing in content from like minded sources reinforcing opinions & divides
- Opportunities for direct (online) conflict with opposing views
“the definition of a story is changing: now a tweet can itself be the story, not just a means to tell it”
“As the boundaries between war and politics increasingly become erased, the ability to guide the narrative of war becomes ever more important”
“In the twenty-first century, observes Harvard political scientist Joseph Nye, conflicts will be less about whose army wins than about whose story wins.”
“social media can level the playing field in asymmetric warfare.”
“social media can level the playing field in asymmetric warfare.”
Military efficacy/wartime value of individual, networked citizens lie in their ability to affect war by using social media to amplify a narrative mobilizing international reactions having impact at political level.
It's better for armies to have young soldiers/officers working on social media initiatives. They're most in tune with Social Media, it's the way they communicate.
“The young have already done their basic training on social media before they join the army."
“The young have already done their basic training on social media before they join the army."
During Op Protective Edge in 2014 quick fact check and immediate responses by IDF to Hamas tweets helped refute false allegations and prevented spread of fake narratives as in earlier conflicts in Gaza.
@adgpi could learn
@adgpi could learn
“IDF’s adept use of social media enabled Israel to influence political conversation bypassing traditional media. IDF became first state military in history to fully harness the power of Homo digitalis within its ranks during wartime. Militia digitalis had been born"
“despite its huge military advantage, Israel needed to win ... at the narrative level ... because ... it's from the narrative dimension of war... that Israel derives the legitimacy it needs to use force. Lose this legitimacy and the IDF ... faces a threat of grave proportions.”
“The audience was people scrolling through their smartphones, only something eyecatching would make them notice. A tweet “Click on the link to see what IDF is doing” would be ignored. He needed everything to fit into 140 char... & graphics, much easier for brain to absorb”
“creativity was prioritized at all times. Stats, facts had to be packaged so that people would retweet, post, or click on; content had to appeal to the audience ( consumer)... It had to speak for itself: to be powerful yet simple enough to reach an audience and make it gasp.”
“In the narrative war, Israel was in a lose-lose situation: if it struck Hamas targets embedded in civilian areas, it received international condemnation, but if Hamas succeeded in kidnapping or killing any of its soldiers, Hamas won again.”
“The more doubt you can sow in people’s minds about all information, the more you will weaken their propensity to recognize the truth when they see or hear it”
Gray zone conflict- coercive & aggressive activity deliberately designed to remain below threshold of conventional military conflict & open war. Goal is to reap gains, whether territorial or otherwise, normally associated with victory in war without escalating to overt warfare...
... without crossing established red-lines & thus without exposing the practitioner to the penalties and risks that such escalation might bring.
“Beliefs in fantastical notions such as Kyiv wanting to destroy the speaking of Russian in Ukraine were sincerely held.The troll farm,with memes,doctored photos,videoclips & articles, played part in the info war. It wasn’t promulgation of narrative:it was reinvention of reality"
“It’s too complicated to control social media messages. One of the strengths of the West in all this is that there isn’t a presiding genius, just a lot of free individuals, and they are actually more effective than the clunky hand of the state.”
“The authorities are just not up-to-date with social media. They are getting more interested in it.... They’re behind the curve, because they have a very conservative culture.”
“Complicated, nuanced thoughts that require context don’t play well on most social media platforms.These platforms also reward repetition, redundancy, and, given their face-to-face nature, verbal conflict.”
“Our information environment is sick. We live in a world where facts are less important than narratives, where people emote rather than debate, and where algorithms shape our view of the world.”
