Lisa Ellen Silvestri – författare

For most of us, clicking “like” on social media has become fairly routine. For a Marine, clicking “like” from the battlefield lets his social network know he’s alive. This is the first time in the history of modern warfare that US troops have direct, instantaneous connection to civilian life back home. Lisa Ellen Silvestri’s Friended at the Front documents the revolutionary evolving military guidelines for social media engagement, Silvestri explores specific practices amongst active duty Marines such as posting photos and producing memes. Her interviews, observations, and research reveal how social network sites present both an opportunity to connect with civilians back home, as well as an obligation to do so—one that can become controversial for troops in a war zone. Much like the war on terror itself, the boundaries, expectations, and dangers associated with social media are amorphous and under constant negotiation. Friended at the Front explains how our communication landscape changes what it is like to go to war for individual service members, their loved ones, and for the American public at large change in the way we communicate across fronts. Social media, Silvestri contends, changes what it’s like to be at war. Based on in-person interviews and online with the US Marines, Friended at the Front explores the new media habits, attitudes, and behaviors of troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some of the complications that emerge in their wake. The book pays particular attention to the way US troops use Facebook and YouTube to narrate their experiences to civilian network members, to each other, and, not least of all, to themselves. After she reviews evolving military guidelines for social media engagement, Silvestri explores specific practices amongst active duty Marines such as posting photos and producing memes. Her interviews, observations, and research reveal how social network sites present both an opportunity to connect with civilians back home, as well as an obligation to do so—one that can become controversial for troops in a war zone. Much like the war on terror itself, the boundaries, expectations, and dangers associated with social media are amorphous and under constant negotiation. Friended at the Front explains how our communication landscape changes what it is like to go to war for individual service members, their loved ones, and for the American public at large.

Eight stories about extraordinary action carried out by ordinary people When you want to affect positive change against structural and systemic problems, where do you begin? In Peace by Peace Lisa Silvestri uses interview-based storytelling to explore the catalytic moments that led ordinary people to address social, political, and economic problems in their communities ranging from the West Bank to West Baltimore. The source of their audacity is practical wisdom, an Ancient Greek virtue that Silvestri revives for twenty-first century application. In the face of big problems like environmental exploitation, global conflict, and ongoing fights for social justice, Peace by Peace offers deeply informed insight into how we can move past debilitating cynicism to create actionable change.