Eva Moehlecke de Baseggio​ – författare

Social media has fundamentally changed communication and interaction in today's society. Apart from being used by individuals, it is also omnipresent in public sector organisations such as the armed forces.This book examines the opportunities and risks associated with social media in the context of the armed forces from an international, social scientific perspective. It discuses the impact of social media in the everyday life of military personnel and analyses the extent to which social media influences their performance, be it as a distraction or as a source of perceived appreciation. It particularly highlights the representation of masculinity and femininity in military social media channels, since the way gender is portrayed on social media has an effect on how future recruits and – at the other end of the military career spectrum – veterans feel they are approached.The book also focuses on the new form of follow-up discussion, which enables the armed forcesto interact with the population. On social media, the armed forces are publicly presented, and this shapes the public’s opinions on them. Further, the armed forces can use debates as a monitoring tool of society's attitudes towards them or towards events that have an effect on society. Conversely, social media can lend a voice to military personnel, allowing them to be publicly heard. As discussions on social media can only be controlled to a limited extent, the context in which the armed forces are discussed alters their sphere of influence and potentially leads to a loss of control. An extreme example of this is the use of social media as a tool to strategically distribute misinformation in order to shape public opinion and threaten national security. Moreover, the use of social media to demoralise adversaries or to harm their credibility results in social media being considered a cyber weapon that affects politics and military activities.

Social media has fundamentally changed communication and interaction in today''s society. Apart from being used by individuals, it is also omnipresent in public sector organisations such as the armed forces.

This book examines the opportunities and risks associated with social media in the context of the armed forces from an international, social scientific perspective. It discuses the impact of social media in the everyday life of military personnel and analyses the extent to which social media influences their performance, be it as a distraction or as a source of perceived appreciation. It particularly highlights the representation of masculinity and femininity in military social media channels, since the way gender is portrayed on social media has an effect on how future recruits and – at the other end of the military career spectrum – veterans feel they are approached.

The book also focuses on the new form of follow-up discussion, which enables the armed forcesto interact with the population. On social media, the armed forces are publicly presented, and this shapes the public’s opinions on them. Further, the armed forces can use debates as a monitoring tool of society''s attitudes towards them or towards events that have an effect on society. Conversely, social media can lend a voice to military personnel, allowing them to be publicly heard. 

As discussions on social media can only be controlled to a limited extent, the context in which the armed forces are discussed alters their sphere of influence and potentially leads to a loss of control. An extreme example of this is the use of social media as a tool to strategically distribute misinformation in order to shape public opinion and threaten national security. Moreover, the use of social media to demoralise adversaries or to harm their credibility results in social media being considered a cyber weapon that affects politics and military activities.

 

Social media has fundamentally changed communication and interaction in today's society. Apart from being used by individuals, it is also omnipresent in public sector organisations such as the armed forces.This book examines the opportunities and risks associated with social media in the context of the armed forces from an international, social scientific perspective. It discuses the impact of social media in the everyday life of military personnel and analyses the extent to which social media influences their performance, be it as a distraction or as a source of perceived appreciation. It particularly highlights the representation of masculinity and femininity in military social media channels, since the way gender is portrayed on social media has an effect on how future recruits and – at the other end of the military career spectrum – veterans feel they are approached.The book also focuses on the new form of follow-up discussion, which enables the armed forcesto interact with the population. On social media, the armed forces are publicly presented, and this shapes the public’s opinions on them. Further, the armed forces can use debates as a monitoring tool of society's attitudes towards them or towards events that have an effect on society. Conversely, social media can lend a voice to military personnel, allowing them to be publicly heard. As discussions on social media can only be controlled to a limited extent, the context in which the armed forces are discussed alters their sphere of influence and potentially leads to a loss of control. An extreme example of this is the use of social media as a tool to strategically distribute misinformation in order to shape public opinion and threaten national security. Moreover, the use of social media to demoralise adversaries or to harm their credibility results in social media being considered a cyber weapon that affects politics and military activities.

Soziale Medien haben die Kommunikation und Interaktion in der heutigen Gesellschaft grundlegend verändert. Sie werden nicht nur von Privatpersonen genutzt, sondern sind auch in Organisationen des öffentlichen Sektors wie den Streitkräften allgegenwärtig.Dieses Buch untersucht die Chancen und Risiken von Social Media im Kontext der Streitkräfte aus einer internationalen, sozialwissenschaftlichen Perspektive. Es erörtert die Auswirkungen sozialer Medien auf den Alltag von Militärangehörigen und analysiert, inwieweit soziale Medien deren Leistung beeinflussen, sei es als Ablenkung oder als Quelle wahrgenommener Wertschätzung. Sie beleuchtet insbesondere die Darstellung von Männlichkeit und Weiblichkeit in militärischen Social-Media-Kanälen, da die Art und Weise, wie das Geschlecht in den sozialen Medien dargestellt wird, Auswirkungen darauf hat, wie sich zukünftige Rekruten und - am anderen Ende des militärischen Karrierespektrums - Veteranen angesprochen fühlen.Das Buch befasst sich auch mit der neuen Form der Folgediskussion, die es den Streitkräften ermöglicht, mit der Bevölkerung zu interagieren. In den sozialen Medien werden die Streitkräfte öffentlich präsentiert, was die Meinung der Öffentlichkeit über sie prägt. Außerdem können die Streitkräfte die Debatten als Instrument zur Beobachtung der Einstellung der Gesellschaft zu ihnen oder zu Ereignissen, die sich auf die Gesellschaft auswirken, nutzen. Umgekehrt können die sozialen Medien den Militärangehörigen eine Stimme verleihen und ihnen ermöglichen, sich öffentlich Gehör zu verschaffen. Da Diskussionen in sozialen Medien nur begrenzt kontrollierbar sind, verändert der Kontext, in dem die Streitkräfte diskutiert werden, ihren Einflussbereich und führt möglicherweise zu einem Kontrollverlust. Ein extremes Beispiel hierfür ist die Nutzung sozialer Medien als Instrument zur strategischen Verbreitung von Fehlinformationen, um die öffentliche Meinung zu beeinflussen und die nationale Sicherheit zu gefährden. Darüber hinaus führt die Nutzung sozialer Medien zur Demoralisierung von Gegnern oder zur Beeinträchtigung ihrer Glaubwürdigkeit dazu, dass soziale Medien als Cyberwaffe betrachtet werden, die Politik und militärische Aktivitäten beeinflusst.