Military Review English Edition January-February 2014

LEVERAGING SOCIAL MEDIA Iran, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan intermittently block their citizens from using Facebook.23 This means that almost a quarter of the world’s population is not regularly allowed to access the site, yet membership numbers continue to climb. In 2005, only 8 percent of American Internetusing adults admitted to using social networking sites, but that proportion jumped to 72 percent by August 2013.24 Geography is now less of a communication obstacle than bandwidth. In less than a decade, social media created a world that is indeed ﬂat, yet thickly connected. Twitter, a micro-blogging social networking site founded in 2006, now has more than 115 million active monthly users.25 Twitter members’ 140-character blog updates or “Tweets” inform, collaborate, and inﬂuence others across the world. YouTube, a video-sharing website founded in February 2005, currently boasts 1 billion unique user visits each month, 100 hours of video uploaded worldwide every minute, with millions of new subscriptions daily.26 Sites like these allow messages to traverse the globe as fast as the Internet can take them, potentially inﬂuencing people and populations quicker than a virus. In fact, “going viral” is a term used for a post or update shared rapidly and to a great number of people because of its content. Examples include the “Gangnam Style” video, the “Harlem Shake” series, or the “What Does the Fox Say?” video.27 If these sound familiar, that illustrates the point and power of social media. If not, “Google” those to demonstrate the ease of information access for today’s generations. Current Leadership Needs Given the explosion and reach of media sites available, Army leaders can and should creatively leverage and integrate social networking as a leadership tool. The Center for Army Leadership’s Annual Survey of Army Leadership reports published in May 2012 and April 2013 noted a need for leaders to improve in the areas of communication, extending inﬂuence beyond the chain of command, developing others, and fostering esprit de corps or building teams.28 These constructs are linked, where attention to any of them will most likely impact others. In today’s Army, many operations are decentralized and require a great deal of trust and understanding MILITARY REVIEW January-February 2014 between leaders and their followers. This has lent itself to a larger focus on the German Auftragstaktik philosophy, which has evolved into Mission Command in the U.S. Army. With the Army’s shift to Mission Command, leaders should leverage all organizational enablers at their disposal, such as social networking. Social media can facilitate and enable communicating and extending inﬂuence if done correctly. Two principles of the mission command philosophy are to build cohesive teams through mutual trust and to create shared understanding.29 Social networking can enhance both trust and understanding exponentially. Trust and Social Media Trust is the feeling that members of a team can depend on one another and their contributions are valued.30 Army Doctrine Publication 6-0 states trust is gained and lost through everyday actions, and it comes from successful shared experiences and training.31 The interaction of the commander, subordinates, and soldiers through two-way communication reinforces trust.32 If there is more than one level of rank between a soldier and leader, chances are the soldier may not physically observe the daily actions of that leader. As an example, when in company command, I only truly spoke with my brigade commander on four occasions. Based on the limited contact we had, I could not determine the nuances of his leadership style, and it is doubtful he could assess mine. I trusted him as a member of the profession, but that trust was based on the legitimacy initially inherent in Army leaders until proven otherwise. This trust only went so far, and did not allow me to share an understanding of his actions or leadership. Referent Power through Social Media The reach, power, and inﬂuence of social media are profound. Recalling the bases of power, leaders can build referent power through social media. If leaders engage members in conver 6F

Military Review English Edition January-February 2014 | Page 9