Should the military get access to Facebook and other social networking sites?
That's a question many might be asking with reports that Israeli military authorities called off an arrest operation in the West Bank after a soldier, for some weird reason, posted details of it on Facebook.
The fascinating part, according to this report, is that the Israeli military has been working overtime to stop leaks on social networking sites and on blogs, a sign perhaps of dissent in the ranks. But what's really interesting is that Hezbollah has made several attempts to contact IDF soldiers through social networking sites.
But that hasn't stopped the US military allowing its soldiers to start using Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. As the New York Times reports, there are still controls to stop cyber attacks and safeguard missions but the military feels it can deal with all those imponderables. An interesting sideline, as the NYT reports, is that the US military announced it on a Twitter feed, not the traditional press release.
The significance of this story is that the US military is reversing a ban on these sites. And as readwriteweb reports, the US Department of Defense has also launched its own social media hub. It's a blog-like site complete with live Twitter feeds, Tweetmeme buttons and "share on Facebook" links.
The thing about social networking sites is that they're so open and free. It will be interesting to see how that works with the command and control methods of the military. There will be inevitable tensions. Watch this space.
no comment untill now