New Media and

The Air Force

Air Force Public Affairs Agency

Emerging Technology Division
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - i

New Media aNd the air Force

t a B L e o F c o N t e N t S

Credits

Larry Clavette Director, Air Force Public Affairs Agency

Capt. David Faggard Chief, Emerging Technology division

Paul F. Bove Senior Web Developer and Digital Media Strategist

Joseph S. Fordham Public Web Policy and Emerging Technology Strategist

PurPoSe ....................................................................................... 1

New Media aNd PuBLic aFFairS .............................................. 2

New Media BackgrouNd ........................................................... 3

gLoBaL New Media treNdS ...................................................... 5

gLoBaL New Media iNForMatioN FLow ................................. 6

guidaNce ...................................................................................... 7

BLoggiNg ...................................................................................... 8

iNduStry PracticeS .................................................................. 9

guideLiNeS For PoPuLar SiteS ............................................. 10

PoPuLar SociaL Media weBSiteS ......................................... 12

airMeN New Media MetricS ................................................... 13

toP PuBLic BLoggiNg SiteS .................................................... 14

airMeN eNgage with New Media .......................................... 15

toP 10 tiPS For New Media ..................................................... 17

eXaMPLeS iN actioN ................................................................. 18

curreNt ProductS ..................................................................20

MeaSureMeNt............................................................................22

coNcLuSioN ...............................................................................23

gLoSSary ....................................................................................... i
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 1

This guide provides Air Force Public 

Affairs professionals with basic 

new media knowledge needed 

to maneuver in the online 

information battlespace 

and the basic-level tactics 

explained here should 

be used to compliment the 

traditional forms of Public Affairs, 

to include internal communication, 

community relations and media 

relations.

This is not a comprehensive guide for 

conducting new media campaigns. It 

provides exposure to entry-level tools 

Airmen may use to communicate 

the Air Force story to broader 

audiences on the Web. As new 

media is always growing, Airmen 

should stay informed through blogs, 

independent learning, wikis and other 

participatory Web 2.0 tools such as 

those described in this book.

Re s earch shows 

traditional journalism 

may be shifting and 

now uses Web as a 

primary resource 

for information. 

Air Force Public 

Af fairs must 

be proactive, 

ensuring the truthful 

representation of the 

Air Force is conveyed 

online.

PURPOSE and Introduction

In the past, the Air Force did not 

officially engage blogs or other 

forms of new media. Now, 

Air Force leaders realize the 

broad reach—both positive 

and negative—these forms 

of communication have on 

Airmen and society, as well as 

the value of maintaining a presence 

in this information domain. While 

communication with media and the 

public has traditionally been the 

responsibility of Public Affairs, today 

all Airmen are communicators. The 

intent of this guide is to educate and 

empower the PA Airmen who are the 

trainers for Airmen communication 

programs. All Airmen are encouraged 

to use new and social media to 

communicate about topics within 

their areas of expertise, or their 

interests.

Tr a d i t i o n al, v e r t i c al 

communication is critical 

for the Air Force, but 

new technologies 

g i v e A i r m e n 

the opportunity 

to horizontally 

inform the media, 

the public and 

each other.

If the Air Force does 

not tell its own story, 

someone else will.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 2

Public Affairs professionals are 

responsible for researching, 

preparing, conducting and assessing 

communication operations in the 

information battlespace and they must 

use all available communications 

means to fulfill this 

dynamic role.

New media allows 

messages to potentially 

spread far grater than 

initially intended 

(hence the term, “viral 

marketing”), and tools 

like blogs, YouTube, 

Twitter and Facebook 

provide instantaneous 

communication with vast 

audiences. Understanding 

and incorporating these 

tools will allow Public 

Affairs to provide 

a broader range of 

converged products 

and become better 

communicators.

We now fight wars on multiple 

fronts; one of which is the 

information front. Joint Doctrine 

states, “Information is an 

instrument of national power 

and has complex components 

with no single center of control. 

Information itself is a strategic 

resource vital to national security 

and allows communicators to 

shape the information battlefield.”

Together with the joint services, Air 

Force Public Affairs professionals 

work to collaborate and develop 

messages, conversations and 

positions to engage online 

communities. The 

joint fight extends to 

the Internet, and as 

such, the Air Force’s 

strategic position 

makes the entire 

Department of Defense 

more accessible and 

transparent for Internet 

audiences.

The Air Force provides 

a unique skill set 

for America that 

compliments the other 

services and it’s the 

role of Public Affairs 

offices worldwide to 

educate audiences on 

the Air Force’s mission 

in air, space and cyberspace.

Note: For the purposes of this book, new 

media, social media, digital media and 

emerging media will connote the same 

overarching communication principles based 

on Web 2.0 (Internet) applications.

New media and public affairs
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 3

Introduction 

to New Media

New media is constantly changing 

and growing. Wikipedia defines 

new media as, “The emergence of 

digital, computerized, or networked 

information and communication 

technologies; while social media 

defines the various activities 

that integrate technology, social 

interaction, and the construction 

of words, pictures, videos and audio.” 

This guide changes the way the Air 

Force employs social media and 

Web 2.0 technology, and positions 

the Air Force well to communicate 

transparently with online audiences. 

PA professionals can help change 

the way the Air Force uses these 

quickly developing, and evolving, 

trends. Blogging is now considered 

mainstream; bloggers often scoop 

reporters and upload video, images 

and content. Reporters may mine 

blogs for information providing 

relevance to mainstream Web sites. 

As a result, Airmen bloggers are 

quickly becoming Airmen journalists, 

propelling their work from new media 

to the front page of the media. 

Mainstream Media 

and Web 2.0

Traditional media outlets leverage 

new and social media, taking 

advantage of the Web 2.0 workspace. 

The Washington Post alone oversees 

dozens of internal blogs, many of 

which are moderated by section 

editors who previously wrote 

exclusively for the printed version. 

News organizations actively engage 

their audiences through RSS feeds, 

blogs and online reporting features 

such as iReport.com, a service 

launched in 2008 that allows users 

to submit their own video footage. 

CNN regularly uses YouTube videos 

and blogs as a primary source of 

information to present to viewers 

and online visitors. 

Web 2.0 is a term first coined by O’Reilly Media in 2004 to describe blogs, wikis, social 

networking sites and other Internet-based services that emphasize collaboration and sharing, 

rather than less interactive Web publishing (Web 1.0). It is associated with the idea of the 

Internet as a platform. 

New media Background

CNN 

and 

 MSNBC 

actively 

engage 

audiences 

through 

RSS 

feeds, 

blogs, 

and new 

endeavors 

such as 

iReport.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 4

Air Force and the 

New Media World

In an effort to manage resources 

more effectively, the Air Force issued 

a policy to end its long-standing 

tradition of producing printed 

base newspapers in lieu of online 

publications. This action provides a 

good start for the Air Force to take 

advantage of disseminating its news 

via Web 2.0 avenues.

Progress is being made toward 

helping Airmen engage each other 

across the social media spectrum—

with a higher goal of transparently 

reaching out to industry leaders, other 

agencies and the general public. The 

U.S. Air Force is currently creating an 

official, and active, presence in the 

larger world of social media. With 

the help of Airmen communicators, 

that presence will grow and flourish.

57%

of those

surveyed

say web

technology

offers the

potential

for

greaterthan-everreal-time

journalism.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

Mainstream media reports a shift 

to digital media. “At larger papers, 

57 percent of those surveyed say 

‘Web technology offers the potential 

for greater-than-ever journalism 

and will be the savior of what we 

once thought of as newspaper 

newsrooms’,” said Mark Glaser, 

contributing author of MediaShift. 

To see more of his article visit 

www.pbs.org/mediashift/.

Virginian-Pilot Editor Dennis Finley 

said, “I feel I’m being catapulted 

into another world...I don’t really 

understand. It’s scary because 

things are happening at the speed 

of light. The sheer speed (of change) 

has outstripped our ability to 

understand it all.” Visit the following 

Web site for more information: 

http://www.journalism.org /

node/11961
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 5

According to a December 2008 

survey from World Internet Usage 

Statistics News and Population 

Stats, approximately 1.5 billion 

people currently use the Internet 

out of approximately 6.7 billion 

globally (www.internetworldstats.

com/stats.htm).

The study also states that Internet 

use in North America has grown 

129.6 percent since 2000, whereas 

it jumped to 1,296 percent 

in the Middle East, and 1,100 

percent in Africa, with only a 

moderate increase in Europe at 

271 percent and 469 percent in 

Asia, comparatively. Syria has the 

highest percentage of Internet 

growth usage in the Middle East at 

11,466 percent, followed closely 

by Iran at 9,100 percent, and 

then by Saudi Arabia at 3,090 

percent. Even media outlets in 

non-democratic parts of the world, 

such as Al Jazeera, employ blogs 

and other Web 2.0 technology 

in order to disseminate news 

content. Though there is a mass 

movement to new and emerging 

media by the mainstream media, 

the American public and the 

military, these resources continue 

to be infiltrated by insurgents and 

terrorists using new media tools to 

counter our messages, intelligence 

corporate 

research 

shows, 

1.5 

billion 

people 

use 

the 

internet.

Global New Media Trends

and effective communications 

globally.

As a result, there is another task 

accomplished by teaching new 

media to Airmen. The Air Force 

needs to turn all of its Airmen, 

and especially it’s front-line 

Public Affairs specialists, into 

communicators who combat 

negative influence of enemy 

propaganda, misinformation 

and misrepresentation. We are 

training world-class Airmen to act 

as our communicators who can 

successfully wage an information 

media war against our detractors.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 6

Global New Media INFORMATION FLOW

The online conversation is a fluid and dynamic space with many factors shaping media, 

messages and products. This chart reflects how new media products are possibly influenced 

by multiple factors, both from individuals and mass media. New media allows for the social 

interaction between a messenger and receiver. Web 2.0 uses online tools like social networking 

sites, blogs, wikis, folksonomy and video-sharing Web sites. 
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 7

The Air

Force

respects

the rights

of Airmen

to use 

blogs as 

a medium 

of selfexpression.

Guidance

Strong new media policies and 

guidance are necessary to actively 

engage Web 2.0 applications and 

Internet audiences. The guidance 

allows Air Force communicators 

to understand what is and is not 

allowed, thereby setting expectations. 

Good policies can also help protect 

people from getting in trouble.

It is up to the Public Affairs 

professionals at each level to teach 

and enforce Air Force new media 

policy, by training and educating 

every Airman on the proper use 

and techniques for engaging in 

new media. Security is critical and 

is at the source. All policies will be 

reviewed by Air Force officials to 

ensure that legal and ethical problems 

are addressed. 

Airmen should note that anytime 

they engage in social media, they 

are representing the Air Force, and 

therefore should not do anything 

that will discredit themselves or the 

Air Force.

In general, the Air Force views 

personal Web sites and blogs 

positively, and it respects the rights 

of Airmen to use them as a medium 

of self-expression.

However, Airmen must abide by 

certain restrictions to ensure good 

order and discipline. All Airmen are 

on duty 24-hours a day, 365-days a 

year and all actions are subject to 

the UCMJ. Even if Airmen state they 

are not representing the Air Force, 

other audiences may not interpret 

the information that way.

Airmen, by the nature of the business, 

are always on the record and must 

always represent the core values, 

even on the Web: integrity first, 

service before self and excellence 

in all that is done.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 8

guidelines assist Airmen in engaging online conversations.

Blogging

n No Classified Inf o Do not 

post classified or sensitive information 

(for example, troop movement, force size, 

weapons details, etc.). If in doubt, talk to 

your supervisor or security manager.

n Replace Err or with Fact, 

not Argument When you see 

misrepresentations made about the Air 

Force in social media, you may certainly 

use your blog, their’s, or someone else’s 

to point out the error. Always do so with 

respect and with the facts. When you 

speak to someone with an adversarial 

position, make sure that what you say 

is factual and is not disparaging. Avoid 

arguments.

n Admit Mistakes Be the first 

to respond to your own mistakes. If you 

make an error, be up front about your 

mistake and correct it quickly. If you choose 

to modify an earlier post, make it clear 

that you have done so (such as by using 

the strikethrough function).

n Use your best judgment

Remember there are always consequences 

to what you write. If you’re still unsure, and 

the post is about the Air Force, discuss 

your proposed post with your supervisor. 

Ultimately, however, you have sole 

responsibility for what you choose to post to 

your blog.

n Avoid the Off ensive Do 

not post any defamatory, libelous, vulgar, 

obscene, abusive, profane, threatening, 

racially and ethnically hateful, or otherwise 

offensive or illegal information or material.

n Avoid Copyright Do not 

post any information or other material 

protected by copyright without the 

permission of the copyright owner.

Also, consider using a Creative Commons 

license to protect your own work (see 

www.creative-commons.org for 

details).

n Trademar ks – Don’t 

breach Do not use any words, logos 

or other marks that would infringe upon 

the trademark, service mark, certification 

mark, or other intellectual property rights 

of the owners of such marks without the 

permission of such owners.

n DON’T VIOL ATE PRIVACY

Do not post any information that would 

infringe upon the proprietary, privacy or 

personal rights of others.

n Avoid Endorsements 

Do not use the Air Force name to 

endorse or promote products, opinions 

or causes.

n No Impersonations Do not 

forge or otherwise manipulate identifiers 

in your post in an attempt to disguise, 

impersonate or otherwise misrepresent 

your identity or affiliation with any other 

person or entity.

n Use Disclaimers Identify to 

readers of a personal social media site or 

post that the views you express are yours 

alone and that they do not necessarily 

reflect the views of the Air Force. Use a 

disclaimer such as: “The postings on this 

site are my own and don’t necessarily 

represent Air Force positions, strategies 

or opinions.”

n Stay in your lane Discussing 

issues related to your AFSC or personal 

experiences is acceptable but do not 

discuss areas of expertise for which you 

have no background or knowledge.

n LINK You may provide a link from your 

site to an Air Force Web site.

“Nobody 

would blog 

except for 

the very 

senior 

people. I 

wondered 

why not? 

Well, 

they had 

basically 

ordered 

their 

people not 

to blog. 

I said, 

‘Well, 

your 

choice is 

to be fired 

or get 

them to 

blog’.”

Then Lt 

Gen James 

Cartwright 

at US 

Strategic 

Command
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 9

Most new media Web sites have 

their own policies that users must 

follow. The Air Force policies 

incorporate and expand upon the 

industry practices and both sets 

must be followed. Always consult 

your local legal office on terms of 

use agreements with civilian sites. 

Following are guidelines from some 

popular social media Web sites:

n YouTubewww.youtube.com/t/

community_guidelines

n Twitter http://twitter.zendesk

com/forums/26257/entries

n Facebook http://www.facebook.

com/terms.php?ref=pf

Air Force BlueTube 

Policy and Procedures

These guidelines set the expectations 

for submitting videos to the Air 

Force’s YouTube presence, known 

as Air Force BlueTube (www.youtube.

com/AFBlueTube).

Air Force BlueTube is the official 

and only approved Air Force site on 

Youtube for Airmen to share their 

stories with other Airmen and the 

public through the use of video. 

Informative, humorous, exciting or 

fun videos are all welcome. Specific 

YouTube guidelines should be followed 

before sending a video. Some of their 

basic common-sense rules follow (you 

can read the full details at www.

youtube.com/t/community_guidelines). 

Air Force-specific guidelines follow.

Air Force 

policies

expand

upon

industry

rules.

Excerpts from

“YouTube Guidelines”

n Don’t post pornography.

n Don’t post videos showing 

illegal activities.

n Don’t upload videos you didn’t 

make, or use content in your 

videos that someone else owns 

the copyright to, such as music 

tracks, snippets of copyrighted 

programs, or videos made by 

other users, without necessary 

authorizations.

n Don’t post hate speech (which 

attacks, demeans groups based 

on race or ethnic origin, religion, 

disability, gender, age, veteran 

status, and sexual orientation/

gender identity).

Industry practices
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 1 0

Air Force BlueTube

Air Force BlueTube videos 

represent the Air Force. Videos 

that discredit the Air Force won’t 

be posted.

n It is OK to want to tell the 

Air Force story, but classified 

or sensitive information (for 

example, troop movement, 

force size, weapons details, 

etc.) will not be posted.

n Be cautious of how something 

can be interpreted by the 

public. If there is any concern 

on how it will be interpreted, 

it will not be posted.

n Do not cross the line between 

funny and distasteful.

Follow the rules: 

your video will 

be reviewed and 

rejected if it violates 

the guidelines and 

the rules of common 

sense and decency. 

Do not put the Air 

Force in a situation 

that may result in 

account termination. 

Remember that these 

rules apply to all 

videos you upload 

on your own to YouTube.

Do not 

cross

the line

between

funny and

distasteful.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) 

is a resource for conducting 

research and a community of 

people with similar interests 

who help shape and guide what 

is posted under entries online. 

Wikipedia has a strong set of rules 

for editing entries. Airmen can’t 

post a statement such as, “The 

Air Force is the biggest, best Air 

Force in the world.” That would 

constitute opinion and bias. If there 

is a reference to back up your 

information, be sure it’s included. 

Posting entries to Wikipedia 

can be achieved by visiting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Wikipedia:About#Contributing_

to_Wikipedia

Wikipedia Policy is 

available at http://

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Wikipedia:About

Wikipedia’s Law 

o f Unint e n d e d 

Consequence states, 

“If you write in 

Wikipedia about 

yourself, your group, 

your company, or 

your pet idea, once 

the article is created, 

you have no right to 

control its content, and no right 

to delete it outside our normal 

channels.

Guidelines for popular sites
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 1 1

Content is not deleted just because 

somebody doesn’t like it. If there is 

anything publicly available on a topic 

that you would not want included 

in an article, it will probably find its 

way there eventually. Therefore, don’t 

create promotional or other articles 

lightly, especially on subjects you 

care about.”

photo sharing

Two popular social photo-sharing 

Web sites, Flickr and Picasa, allow 

users to post pictures that are 

generally visible and available to 

everyone else, because anybody 

can view and download these 

photos. It is important to abide 

by the community guidelines and 

be cautious of what you upload. 

Guidelines are available at www.

flickr.com/guidelines.gne and 

www.google.com/. Always check 

the Terms of Use.

Social networks

Airmen are advised to be careful of 

the details, text, photos and video 

posted to profiles on MySpace and 

Facebook and other social networks. 

Employers and adversaries can search 

these sites and there are numerous 

examples of people losing a job due 

to their photos or comments. It is 

highly recommended that users set 

privacy settings to “private” so that 

only your ‘friends’ can see profile 

specifics.

Other guidelines 

are available at:

www.facebook.com/terms.php

As indicated in the guidelines, 

the corporate policies are taken 

seriously on social media sites. 

Inappropriate posting and copyright 

infringement are two of the most 

serious infractions. Ensure posts 

don’t endorse one product. Keep 

in mind, these policies are not written 

to restrict postings, rather they are 

written to protect people and help 

keep Airmen out of trouble.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 1 2

Newsvine

Newsvine is a collection of 

news from all over the world, 

contributed and controlled entirely 

by users. The community can post 

and read material from established 

media, such as AP, as well as 

individual contributors from all 

around the world. Anyone can 

contribute. 

Technorati

Technorati is an Internet search 

engine specific to blogs. In June 

2008, Technorati indexed 113 

million blogs and over 250 

million pieces of tagged social 

media. Its tools are useful and 

can be retained as a bookmark 

and source of research. It’s a 

recommended product when 

determining ‘authority’ of a blog 

site for proactive engagement.

YouTube

A site where users can upload, 

view and share videos. Keywords, 

tags, drive the search function and 

it is highly recommended the tag 

fields of all videos be populated 

with useful keywording. YouTube 

had 79 million users and about 

3 billion viewed videos. The Air 

Force presence on YouTube is Air 

Force BlueTube.

*Always consult the Terms of Use agreements.

Digg

Digg is a social bookmarking 

Web site that allows people to 

share and view content from all 

over the Web. All material is user 

submitted, and then is voted upon 

by visitors. The more Diggs (votes) 

a story receives, the higher up it 

goes, ultimately heading to the 

front page for maximum coverage. 

Viewers can also bury a story.

DEL ICIOUS

Delicious is a social bookmarking 

service that allows users to tag, 

save, manage and share Web 

pages from a centralized source. 

Users post links to stories or other 

media, write a brief description, 

and include tags that help when 

somebody searches for a topic. 

FaceBook

A free, social media and 

networking site, allows 

commentaries, virtual gifts 

exchanged between friends, and 

photos posted with captioning 

and commentaries. Facebook 

had approximately 133 million 

visitors in June 2008, and ranks 

5th in terms of popularity and 

usage/traffic. 

MySp ace

Similar to the Facebook network, 

MySpace had 117 million users 

in June 2008. MySpace overall 

ranking dropped to 14th. 

popular Social Media Websites

“The newest 

computer 

can merely 

compound, 

at speed, the 

oldest problem 

in the relations 

between 

human beings, 

and in the 

end the 

communicator 

will be 

confronted 

with the 

old problem, 

of what to 

say and how 

to say it.”

Edward R. 

Murrow, 

Journalist
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 1 3

The rapid pace by which Public 

Affairs is impacted by new media 

outlets is staggering. Today’s social 

media metrics will morph into 

something completely new.

The addition of new blogs, to 

the tune of nearly a 185,000 

per day shows there is no one 

person at the helm of any of 

these conversations, and that 

public perception is directly 

derived by the participants in the 

blogosphere. Mainstream media 

currently mines the blogosphere 

to capture the latest news with 

more than 50 percent of current 

reporters using blogs to derive 

new content. 

How does Airmen use of social 

media affect the public perception 

of the Air Force? Nearly 70 percent 

of Airmen use YouTube to load 

their videos and share others, 

nearly 50 percent use Facebook, 

and 75 percent of enlisted Airmen 

use MySpace. Fifty percent of 

Airmen want the Air Force to take 

a more active role in social media.

Public opinion and institutional 

standing are evaluated daily 

through social media postings 

by Airmen. Now the Air Force 

is meeting this challenge and 

engaging online discussions by 

committing each Airman to act as 

a communicator to be the voice of 

the Air Force in the blogosphere 

and in their social media outlets. 

Airmen 

using 

YouTube

Airmen 

using 

Facebook 

Airmen 

using 

MySpace 

70%

50%

AIRMEN NEW MEDIA METRIC S

75%

ON INFO WARS

“In this battlefield, 

popular perceptions 

and rumor are more 

influential than facts 

and more powerful 

than a hundred tanks.” 

David Kilcullen, 

Fundamentals of 

Company-Level 

Counterinsurgency.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 1 4

TOP TEN BLOGS

For a USAF-specific blog, check out: 

www.airforcelive.dodlive.mil or 

www.pjcountry.blogspot.com.

1

THE HUFFINGTON POST

www.huffingtonpost.com

2

ENGADGET

www.engadget.com

3

TECHCRUNCH

www.techcrunch.com

4

GIZMODO

www.gizmodo.com

5

BOING BOING

www.boingboing.net

6

OFFICIAL GOOGLE BLO G

www.googleblog.blogspot.com

7

LIFEHACKER

www.lifehacker.com

8

ARS TECHNICA

www.arstechnica.com

9

DAILY KOS

www.dailykos.com

10

BLOGGINGSTOCKS

www.bloggingstocks.com

Source: technorati.com

According to 

Technorati

There are 

112.8 million 

blogs and over 

250 million 

pieces of 

tagged social 

media online.

There are 

175,000+

blogs created 

every day.

New blogs are 

updated 

regularly at 

1.6 million

posts per day, 

 or over 18 

updates per 

second.

62% of 

reporters said 

blogs play a 

significant 

role in the 

“tone 

of discussion” 

in traditional 

news 

reporting.

52% of

 reporters say 

they use blog 

search engines 

like Google 

Blog Search.

top Ten milblogs

For a full list of milblogs, visit: milblogging.com. 

 You can search by a number of criteria.

1

365 AND A WAKEU P 

http://thunder6.typepad.com/

2

A SOLDIER’S PERS PECT IVE

http://www.soldiersperspective.us

3

BLACKFIVE-THE PARATROO PER OF LOVE

http://www.blackfive.net/

4

ONE MARINE’S VIEW

http://onemarinesview.com/

5

MICHAEL YON

http://www.michaelyononline.com/wp/

6

AFGHANISTAN WITHOUT A CLUE

http://traversa.typepad.com/

7

FROM MY POSITION...ON THE WAY! 

http://tcoverride.blogspot.com/

8

THE MUDVILLE GAZETTE

http://www.

mudvillegazette.com/

9

SOME SOLDIER’S MOM 

http://somesoldiersmom.

blogspot.com/

10

WORDSMITH AT WAR

http://www.wordsmithatwar. blog-city.com/

Top public Blogging Sites
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 1 5

Military Data

n 60 percent of enlisted Airmen 

said they use MySpace.

n 21 percent of officers said they 

use Facebook.

n 71 percent – 96 percent of E-2s 

through E-6s use YouTube.

n 51 percent of Airmen surveyed 

said they might use Social 

Media, “depending on what 

is offered”, while 40 percent 

said “they won’t use it.”

n Airmen stationed overseas said 

they would use new media

n 69 percent of Airmen use 

YouTube; 48 percent said they 

use MySpace; 15 percent said 

they use Blogger and 8 percent 

said they use Facebook.

Industry Data

n 55 percent of all adult 

Americans have a high-speed 

internet connection at home 

(Pew Research Center, July 

2008).

n 30.6 percent of 18–24 year olds 

and 19.3percent of Hispanics 

are cell phone only users (Pew 

Research, May 2008).

n 62 percent of all Americans 

are part of a wireless, mobile 

population that participates 

in digital activities away from 

home or work (Pew Research 

Center, March 2008).

n “90 percent of people in the 

Blogosphere don’t care about 

your message, nor will they 

ever read it. 9 percent will read 

it, but will not engage you or 

act on your product/service/

stance. 1 percent will read it 

and actively engage you on the 

subject you’re writing about.” 

(Metrics expert, K.D. Paine)

n Once a YouTube video receives 

50,000 views, it’s moved to the 

front page. (YouTube Guidelines 

for usage).

n Asia has 14 percent of its 

population connected (World 

Internet Usage Statistics News 

and Population Stats).

n Internet use in the Middle East 

grew 1,176 percent since 2000 

(World Internet Usage Statistics 

News and Population Stats).

Airmen engage with New Media 

Air Force Social Media Use Survey

46% of E-2s and 

60% of 2nd Lts 

use Facebook

75% of E-2s

and E-5s 

use MySpace 

with 43% using 

it several times 

 a day, most 

likely from 

cell phones or 

home-based 

computers

49% of Airmen 

want more of 

an Air Force 

social media 

presence

62% of 

reporters said 

blogs play a 

significant role 

in the “tone 

of discussion” 

in traditional 

news reporting.

52% of 

reporters say 

they use blog 

search engines 

like Google 

Blog Search.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 1 6

Industry imp ortance

n 75 percent of respondents, 

ages 35 – 64, are more likely 

to believe what they see or 

hear about a company or 

product if another person 

“like them” mentioned it to 

them (Edelman’s 2008 Trust 

Barometer).

n 78 percent of consumers trust 

other consumers “like them” 

(Nielsen’s Trust in Advertising). 

n 66 percent of Internet 

users under 30 are Social 

Networkers (Stelter, NY 

Times).

n 70 percent of Americans 15 

to 34 are actively involved 

with social networks (Mike 

Spataro in PR Week).

n 500,000 – The number of 

people joining MySpace and 

Facebook daily.

Tech/net 

influencers

spend nearly 

10 hours 

per week 

using the web 

for personal 

reasons.

shifting trends

n 65 percent of the general 

U.S. population still views 

major network television news 

programs as their source of 

information, while 61% view 

the local news as their source 

of information (University of 

Southern California/Ketchum 

Communications study).

n 62 percent of people in the 

United States say their local 

newspaper is a credible 

source of information (USC/

Ketchum Communications 

study).

n 61 percent of Americans rank 

word- of-mouth as a credible 

source of information (USC/

Ketchum Communications 

study).

Tech/net influencers are a powerful 

group defined by three key attributes

- They have at least 75 friends 

- They respond almost every day, 

- They spend more than 10 hours 

per week using the Internet for 

personal reasons.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 1 7

Top 10 TIPS FOR NEW MEDIA

1

DON’T GIVE CLASS IFIED INFO.

Don’t divulge classified, FOUO or sensitive 

materials, photos or video. OPSEC is crucial 

to our mission, think before you speak or 

film—if you’re not sure, ask someone! 

A harmless video of an Airman dancing 

on the flightline could be sensitive if it’s a 

deployed environment showing bombers 

on the flightline. Be smart. Security is at 

the source.

2

STAY IN YOUR LANE .

If you’re an aircraft mechanic, you’re well 

suited to communicate messages about 

aircraft maintenance. If you’re an aircraft 

mechanic blogging about legal issues—

reconsider your blog.

3

DON’T LIE.

Credibility is critical, without it, no one cares 

what you have to say...it’s also punishable 

by the UCMJ to give a false statement.

4

GIVE YOUR OPINION!

Yes, tell them what YOU think...just make 

sure you state that this is your opinion and 

not that of the organization. Also, be sure 

to identify what is your opinion and what 

is factual.

5 

ALWAYS IDENT IFY YOURSEL F.

Identification makes your post more 

credible.

6

SAFETY.

Videos that get widespread attention, or 

become “viral,” feature death-defying 

stunts or acts that are considered “extreme” 

in nature. Don’t let the desire to get 

your message across compromise your 

consideration for safety.

7

BE AWARE OF THE IMAGE

YOU PRESENT .

If using a visual medium, don’t let your 

message get overshadowed because the 

viewer’s attention is drawn to your improperly 

worn uniform or something occurring in the 

background. The image you present will set 

the tone for your message and often mean the 

difference of whether or not people listen to 

your message. Your tactical representation could 

have strategic and international consequences 

for the Air Force and the nation.

8

USE COMMON SENSE !

This is the bottom line. If you wouldn’t say 

it in front of your mother, you probably 

shouldn’t say it on YouTube. Realize that 

your words and images will go out to 

thousands and possibly millions of people 

around the world instantly and once it’s 

out there, it’s out there for good. Your 

unit public affairs shop should always be 

a source of advice and guidance in this 

medium. Also, be careful what personal 

information you divulge, such as address, 

phone numbers or any information that 

could aid identity thieves or the enemy.

9

DON’T BE AFRAID TO TAKE

CALCULATED RISKS .

Military life often deals in ambiguity: In order 

to make the best decision, it’s recommended 

to take in as many variables as possible in 

order to make the most accurate decision.

10

THE ENEMY IS ENGAGED.

The enemy is engaged in this battlespace 

and you must engage there as well.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 1 8

Convergence: 

name of the game 

A converged product employed by 

the Air Force Public Affairs Agency 

was a collaboration of internal 

and external print, photos and 

new media efforts. It highlighted 

an impromptu memorial in the 

Area of Responsibility (AOR) for a 

fallen Soldier, who was the brother 

of an Air Force U-2 crew chief. 

Photos were e-mailed to AFPAA 

and were posted on various Web 

sites, including CNN’s iReport. 

The photos and story were then 

posted to Reddit, LinkedIn, 

StumbleUpon, Delicious, Digg 

and other social media sites, with 

the whole process taking three 

hours. In less than a week it had 

been viewed hundreds of times. 

The photo was eventually the lead 

photo for CNN.com.

Air Mobility Command 

Air Mobility Command, Public 

Affairs took the initiative to 

develop a narrated video, 

“Portraits in Courage,” which 

was posted to their public Web 

site. Collaborating with the public 

affairs and new media team, it was 

also loaded to CNN’s iReport, 

YouTube and other social media 

sites, resulting in hundreds of hits 

and comments.

internet 

media engagement

A traditional media’s Internet blog, 

targeted towards military readers 

in Florida, actively blogged about 

issues of importance to family 

members and offers a discussion 

board for families and activeduty servicemembers. The blog 

specifically focused on MacDill 

AFB and Central Command 

Headquarters’ readers. The 

submissions usually don’t appear in 

print but receive many comments. 

Air Force recommended Public 

Affairs offices and leaders in 

Florida engage the bloggers.

Supporters 

or detractors

Supporters or detractors of 

U.S. military members now 

have the ability to speak out in 

support of, or against, any issue. 

EXAMPLES IN ACTIO N

New 

Media has

given the 

Air Force a 

new voice to 

communicate 

effectively 

with their 

command 

and the 

public they 

serve.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 1 9

For example, a video showing 

deplorable conditions at Fort 

Bragg, originally filmed, edited 

and posted on YouTube April 28, 

2008, by Ed Frawley, the father of 

Sgt Jeff Frawley at Fort Bragg, NC, 

has been viewed 476,000 times as 

of February, 2009. It urges viewers 

to “call Senators, Congressmen 

and the media,” and has received 

video responses from people all 

over the world, including the U.S., 

Canada, Australia, Germany and 

South Korea.

It has influenced hundreds of 

traditional news stories in print 

and broadcast, and has received 

direct responses from the Fort 

Bragg commander and Secretary 

of the U.S. Army. It’s received 

4.5 of 5 stars on YouTube’s rating 

system.

Alaska Command

The 2008 Northern Edge 

exercise used new media and 

When 

Hurricane 

Dolly struck 

the Gulf Coast, 

the Air Force 

leveraged 

coverage 

by releasing 

photos and 

stories to 

CNN’s iReport.

digital technology to target 

online audiences in order to 

educate them on the benefits 

of the Alaskan exercises. Alaska 

Command’s Public Affairs Office 

focused efforts to educate the 

social-media environment by 

dual-purposing traditional public 

affairs products while populating 

sites like MySpace, YouTube, 

iReport, Discovery Channel 

online, Wikipedia, Flickr and 

other communication venues 

on the Internet.

They achieved 287 MySpace visits; 

two favorite photos on Flickr from 

31 photos posted; and 1,737 views 

of 17 videos on YouTube with 

6 rated 4 out of 5 stars.

Watch the news

With Hurricane Dolly fastapproaching the Gulf Coast, it 

seemed inevitable that the Air 

Force would assist with rescue and 

evacuation efforts and traditional 

PA coverage would follow.

Air Force public affairs leveraged 

coverage of the Air Force story 

through the local media to 

create “bounce” from the other 

reporters’ stories, both internally 

and externally. Once a story and 

photos were released to AF Link 

it was quickly loaded to CNN’s 

iReport, and in two days it was 

viewed hundreds of times. Link 

to the story: www.ireport.com/

docs/DOC-48720.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 2 0

The Air Force currently engages in 

basic Web 2.0 and is researching 

ways to leverage more of what 

is available. When thinking 

about using digital technology, 

remember that the primary goal 

of social media is to engage in 

conversations with others. The 

secondary goal is to use a new 

voice to tell the Air Force story 

and share it with the public, and 

other Airmen. Below is a broad 

list of products the Air Force uses. 

Air Force Link

Air Force Link is the primary 

public Web site of the Air Force. 

The site offers news stories, 

photos, video, Podcasts, shared 

technology and RSS feeds. These 

features are the most basic of Web 

2.0 offerings. They allow for a 

simple multimedia experience. 

All news stories and photographs 

have the ability to be linked on 

hundreds of other online social 

media sites using the “share“ tab.

WIKI Technology

Most pages on the Air Force 

Communities of Practice (CoP) 

employ a wiki. The wiki allows you 

to collaborate with other Airmen 

and share your wisdom with them. 

There is also an Air Force entry in 

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/

wiki/US_Air_Force). Get involved 

On Wiki

“We fully 

understand 

all of the 

information 

may not be 

100 percent 

correct all 

of the time 

and it may 

not initially 

provide us 

with perfect 

solutions. 

That’s OK. 

Military 

commanders 

are used to 

dealing with 

ambiguity....if 

we wait for 

perfect 

information 

that plods 

through the 

old Napoleonic 

structure, we 

risk being 

irrelevant in 

today’s world.” 

General

Robert Kehler,

Commander, 

US Air Force 

Space 

Command

with the wikis on the CoP and 

share your knowledge. Also, since 

the Air Force does not own its 

Wikipedia entry, anyone can make 

changes to the page. If you see 

something incorrect, let your PAO 

know about it so they can make 

the changes.

photo Sharing sites

Flickr and Picasa are photo-sharing 

Web 2.0 tools that the Air Force 

is using to tell its story by sharing 

imagery. Airmen and the public can 

view Air Force photos through tags 

that are placed on each picture.

Video Sharing Sites

The Air Force has a presence on 

YouTube, called AirForceBlueTube 

(http://www.youtube.com/

afbluetube). Air Force BlueTube 

focuses on everything Air Force. 

It is a place for Airmen to share 

their videos and stories ranging 

from funny, to poignant, and 

everything in between. Become 

part of the video conversation by 

creating and submitting videos 

to AirForceBlueTube. Family and 

friends are welcome to submit as 

well. Public affairs recommends 

submitting all videos to Air 

Force BlueTube and not creating 

additional unit-level YouTube 

channels.

CURRENT PRODUCT S
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 2 1

Social Networking

The Air Force has created 

profiles in Facebook for media 

engagement and a platform for 

testing, called Hap Arnold: (http://

www.facebook.com/profile.

php?id=1409442190). This is a 

place to share information and 

interact with Airmen from all 

over the world. Consider creating 

a Facebook page for your local 

wing or base to collaborate 

with your colleagues. Invite 

unit members to join. Use the 

Air Force Facebook page as a 

template. Follow the reference 

in the approved Air Force 

Instruction.

Podcasts & Vodcasts

There are currently five Podcasts 

or vodcasts (video Podcasts) being 

produced by the Air Force. Pod- and 

vodcasts are a great way to tell 

a story using voice and/or video. 

Visit www.af.mil/newmedia.asp

for a list of available Podcasts 

and instructions on subscribing 

to them. Turn local interviews or 

stories into There is simple plug 

and play software that is available 

for creating a Podcast, and it costs 

nothing to upload. Consider sites 

like www.blogtalkradio.com to start 

an Internet radio station for free.

Social Bookmarking

The Air Force is proactively 

bookmarking news stories 

on Digg, Delicious, Reddit, 

Newsvine, and other sites, and 

And in 

the end the 

communicator 

will be 

confronted 

with the 

old problem 

of what 

to say 

and how 

to say it.

also via the “share” button on 

af.mil. Create a base PA Profile 

on the sites listed above and 

share information with your 

colleagues at your local base. 

Make a simple username and 

password so anyone from your 

unit can post and share a story 

of interest.

Recommendations 

for Future Research

Moblogging allows a user to 

create a blog entry from mobile 

phones and post on the Web. 

Microblogging allows short text 

updates to be published and 

sent to friends immediately. The 

most popular service is Twitter 

(www.twitter.com). Social 

networking Websites Facebook, 

MySpace and LinkedIn use 

micro-blogging with their “status 

update” features.

Products to focus on

Engage Bloggers. These 

applications are shaping the 

way people across the world 

communicate, influence 

traditional media thus reaching 

a larger audience allowing the 

Air Force message to be told with 

less resources, thus saving the 

taxpayers money and PA office 

time. To engage others, focus 

on top-ranked blogs, YouTube, 

Facebook, MySpace, Flickr 

and Picasa.

Always consult terms of use with JAG.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 2 2

Any and all 

communication 

programs 

can and 

should be 

measured and 

evaluated.

Measurement and evaluation are 

part of all Air Force communication 

campaigns. Counting is easy, 

yet measuring the success of 

communication efforts is not. 

Effective measurement drives 

evaluation and resources; potential 

steps to measuring campaigns 

are to:

n Perform a communication 

audit across all products to 

understand the perception of 

the information consumer and 

identify inconsistencies;

n Def ine mea surement 

benchmarks through detailed 

and achievable qualitative and 

quantitative metrics;

n Communicate the economic 

impact to leadership; and

n Study the success of past 

measurement programs.

Any and all communication 

programs can and should be 

measured or evaluated: new media 

is no different. The impact of target 

markets, advocacy movements and 

stakeholder engagement should 

be tracked and followed up on 

to ensure adequate resources 

are being allocated per project. 

Determining the effect/effects to be 

achieved and how to measure the 

success of achieving those effects 

should be planned well before 

execution; thus, the success of the 

plan and measurement will shape 

future engagements, planning and 

budgeting. There is no one-sizefits-all approach to measuring 

effectiveness of a communication 

program. Simple analytics like 

counting hits, viewers and positive 

and negative comments are easy 

ways to show how new media 

can help define your story and 

will help your leadership see the 

value of what, and how, you’re 

communicating.

Resources on measurement 

include Icerocket, Technorati, 

Google analytics, Blogpulse, and 

CustomScoop.

Ask: How much coverage was generated and how much of that 

was in non-traditional formats? 

Did the right target markets get 

the message? Were command 

messages in the product? Did 

third-party spokespeople carry 

those messages to other venues? 

How many bloggers quoted your 

article? Were they considered 

useful? How many visitors read 

your blog? Learn more about 

measurement at: http://www.

thenewpr.com/wiki/pmwiki.

php/Main/HomePage?pagename

=PRMeasurement.HomePage.

MEASUREMENT
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - 2 3

This guide does not advocate 

a major shift in resources from 

traditional media to new media. 

Rather it endorses the belief that 

digital communication provides a 

new toolset that commanders can 

use to achieve military objectives. 

Results from the University of 

Southern California and public 

relations company Ketchum 

indicate major network and local 

network news programs, and local 

newspapers, are still ranked very high 

as a credible source of information. 

However, in the report, Ben Smith, 

a blogger with Politico newspaper, 

“I only have a fraction of blog readers 

than print-readers; however, I know 

my readers are reading my story, 

not skimming to the sports section.” 

And Teri Daley, senior vice president 

with Ketchum’s Wireless Technology 

division, notes there’s a paradigm 

shift taking place now with more and 

more communication becoming a 

two-way street instead of a messagepushing process.

There are movements within DoD to 

explore a broader, more aggressive 

and holistic approach that must be 

developed and employed in order to 

integrate communicators. The rules 

of the game have clearly changed. 

Until now, the Air Force has not 

had an official stance on engaging 

bloggers, social media and Web 2.0 

initiatives. However, by being a part 

of this trend, PA is embarking into 

a new world of communication for 

the Air Force. Because Airmen are 

the voice of the organization, PA 

has the responsibility to tell the Air 

Force story in a thoughtful, engaging 

and exciting manner—by taking 

advantage of the same popular 

Web 2.0 tools and services used 

by corporate and industry leaders.

The Air Force Public Affairs Agency 

will assist in many ways. First, this 

book gives you a brief overview of 

how to navigate through some of the 

Web 2.0 offerings, a list of Web 2.0 

products and services (and where 

to find them on the Internet), and a 

glossary of social media and Web 

2.0 terminology. Second, guidance 

outlines how to communicate in this 

space and how new media can assist 

the Air Force in leveraging Web 2.0 in 

order to tell the Air Force story. Lastly, 

education is planned for individuals 

across the communication spectrum, 

starting at the formal level in the 

Defense Information School, for 

those beginning their career in PA, 

and ongoing and continuing formal 

education in the form of Webinars 

and teleconferences available to 

Public Affairs offices.

CONCLUSION

There is a 

paradigm shift 

taking place now 

with more 

communication 

becoming a 

two-way street 

instead of a 

message pushing 

process.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - I

Glossary

Advocacy

Creating a movement of 

net-fluencers to influence 

conversation, actions or motives 

in support of one’s objective.

Aggregation

Gathering and remixing content 

from blogs and other Web sites 

that provide RSS feeds; typically 

displayed in an aggregator like 

Bloglines or Google Reader, 

or directly on your desktop 

using software (often also called 

a newsreader). Beneficial for 

breaking news. CNN and 

OASD/PA have effective tools 

like these.

Alerts

Search engines, like Google, 

allow you to specify words, 

phrases or tags that you want 

checked periodically, with 

results of those searches 

returned to you by e-mail.

Archive

May refer to topics from an 

online discussion that has 

been closed but saved for later 

reference. On blogs, archives 

are collections of earlier items 

usually organized by week or 

month. You may still be able to 

comment on archived items.

Authenticity

The sense that something or 

someone is “real.” Blogs enable 

people to publish content, and 

engage in conversations, that 

show their interests and values, 

and so help them develop an 

authentic voice online. Airmen 

should always be transparent 

and authentic while online.

Avatars

Graphical images representing 

people within the new media 

arena. You can build a visual 

character with the body, 

clothes, behaviors, gender 

and name of your choice. 

This may or may not be an 

authentic representation of 

yourself. (View Secondlife.com

for more information.)

AVI — (Audio Video

Interleaved)

A Microsoft Corporation 

multimedia video format. It 

uses waveform audio and 

digital video frames (bitmaps) 

to compress animation.

Back channel

Communications

Are private e-mails or other 

messages sent by the facilitator 

or between individuals during 

public conferencing. They can 

have a significant effect on the 

way that public conversations go.

Bandwidth

The capacity of an electronic 

line, such as a communications 

network or computer channel, 

to transmit bits per second (bps).

Blog Control

Social networking is difficult to 

control because if people can’t 

say something in one place 

they can blog or comment 

elsewhere. That can be 

challenging for hierarchical 

organizations used to centrally 

managed Web sites.

Blogs

Web sites with dated items of 

content in reverse chronological 

order, self-published by 

bloggers. Items—called 

posts—may have keyword 

tags associated with them, are 

usually available as feeds and 

often allow commenting.

Blogosphere

A term used to describe the 

totality of blogs on the Internet, 

and the conversations taking 

place within that sphere.

blogroll

A list of sites displayed in the 

sidebar of a blog, showing who 

the blogger reads regularly.

Bookmarking

Saving the address of a Web 

site or item of content, either 

in your browser, or on a social 

bookmarking site like Delicious. 

If you add tags, others can easily 

find your research too, and 

the social bookmarking site 

becomes an enormous public 

library.

browser 

The tool used to view Web 

sites, and access all the content 

available there onscreen or by 

downloading. (e.g., Microsoft 

Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.)

Bulletin boards

The early vehicles for online 

collaboration, where users 

connected with a central 

computer to post and read 

email-like messages.

Categories

Pre-specified ways to organize 

content—for example, a set 

of keywords that you can use 

but not add to when posting 

on a site.
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - II

Champions

In order to get conversations 

started in an online community, 

you need a group of enthusiasts 

willing and confident to get 

things moving by posting 

messages, responding and 

helping others.

Chat

An interaction on a Web site, 

with a number of people adding 

text items one after the other 

into the same space at (almost) 

the same time. A place for chat, 

a chatroom, differs from a forum 

because conversations happen 

in “real time,” similar to face 

to face.

Collaboration

Social media tools from 

e-mail lists to virtual worlds 

offer enormous scope for 

collaboration. Low-risk activities 

like commenting, social 

bookmarking, chatting and 

blogging help develop the trust 

necessary for collaboration.

Comments

Blogs may allow readers to 

add feedback comments under 

posts, and may also provide a 

feed for comments as well as 

for main items.

Online

communities

Online communities are groups 

of people communicating 

mainly through the Internet. 

View a Second Life community, 

Huffman Prairie, at www.

secondlife.com.

Community

building 

The process of recruiting 

potential community or network 

participants, helping them to 

find shared interests and goals, 

use the technology and develop 

useful conversations.

online

conference

Happens in a Web forum: it 

is the conversations of those 

involved, organized around 

topics, threads, and a theme 

or subject.

Constructives

The science of applying new 

media viral mapping to a 

specific public affairs issue 

to determine a projected 

outcome—educating readers 

on projected paths.

Content

Text, pictures, video and any 

other meaningful material that 

is on the Internet.

Content

management 

systems

Software suites offering the 

ability to create static Web 

pages, document stores, blogs, 

wikis and other tools.

Conversation

Through blogging, commenting 

or contributing to forums, is the 

currency of social networking, 

which puts the “social” in this 

form of media. A popular 

perception of bloggers is of 

people ranting on a virtual 

soapbox without knowing who 

is listening.

Cookie

Information (in this case URLs, 

Web addresses) created by 

a Web server and stored 

on a user’s computer. This 

information lets Web sites the 

user visits keep a history of a 

user’s browsing patterns and 

preferences. People can set 

up their browsers to accept or 

not accept cookies.

Copyright

Sharing through social media 

is enhanced by attaching a 

Creative Commons license 

specifying, for example, that 

content may be re-used with 

attribution, provided that a 

similar license is then attached 

by the new author. This work 

is under that type of license - 

Creative Commons Attribution 

Share-Alike 2.5 License.

Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing refers to 

harnessing the skills and 

enthusiasm of those outside 

an organization who are 

prepared to volunteer their 

time contributing content and 

solving problems.

Creative

Commons

Creative Commons is a not-forprofit organization and licensing 

system that offers creators 

the ability to fine-tune their 

copyright, spelling out the ways 

in which others may use their 

works. For more information, 

visit: http://ourmedia.org/

learning-center/topic/law/

creative-commons.

Cyberculture

A collection of cultures and 

cultural products that exist on 

and/or are made possible by 

the Internet, along with the 

stories told about these cultures 

and cultural products. Visit 

http://www.com.washington.

edu/rccs/.

Deconstructives

Systematically working back 
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - III

from a specific issue to identify 

influencers through viral 

mapping.

Democracy

Social networking and media 

are potentially attractive to 

those who want to revive 

representative democracy, and 

those who promote participative 

approaches or both. Social 

media offers politicians and 

their constituents another 

communication channel. It also 

offers a wide range of methods 

for people to discuss, deliberate 

and take action.

Digital story

A digital story is a short personal 

nonfiction narrative that is 

composed on a computer, 

often for publishing online or 

publishing to a DVD. They 

are told from the narrator’s 

point of view and the subject 

is generally about something 

the maker experienced 

personally. For example, see 

Center for Digital Storytelling: 

(http://www.storycenter.org/), 

Creative Narrations (http://

www.creativenarrations.net/).

Domain name

A method of identifying 

computer addresses. Your 

e-mail address has a domain 

address. If there is an “.edu” at 

the end of your e-mail address 

that means your account is 

affiliated with an educational 

institution. A “.com” extension 

means the account is business 

related and a government 

account has a “.gov” suffix.

E-mail lists

Important networking tools 

offering the ability to “starburst” 

a message from a central 

postbox to any number of 

subscribers, and for them to 

respond.

Embedding

The act of inserting video or 

photo to a Web site or e-mail.

Face-to-face

Used to describe people 

meeting offline.

Facilitator

Someone who helps people 

in an online group or forum 

manage their conversations.

Feeds

The means by which you can 

read, view or listen to items from 

blogs and other RSS-enabled 

sites without visiting the site, 

by subscribing and using an 

aggregator or newsreader.

Flash

Animation software used to 

develop interactive graphics 

for Web sites as well as desktop 

presentations and games.

Forums

Discussion areas on Web 

sites, where people can 

post messages or comment 

on existing messages 

asynchronously—that is, 

independently of time or place.

Friends

On social networking sites, 

contacts whose profile you 

link to in your profile, thereby 

creating your network. On some 

sites people have to accept the 

link, in others, not.

Groups

Collections of individuals with 

some sense of unity through 

their activities, interests or 

values. They are bounded: you 

are in a group, or not. They 

differ from networks, which 

are dispersed, and defined by 

nodes and connections.

Hyperlink

Text, images or graphics that, 

when clicked with a mouse 

(or activated by keystrokes), 

will connect the user to a new 

Web site. The link is usually 

obvious, such as underlined 

text or a “button” of some type, 

but not always.

Instant

messaging (IM)

Chatting with one other person 

using an IM tool like AOL 

Instant Messenger, Microsoft 

Live Messenger or Yahoo 

Messenger. The tools allow 

you to indicate whether or not 

you are available for a chat, and 

if so can be a good alternative 

to e-mails for a rapid exchange. 

Problems arise when people in 

a group are using different IM 

tools that don’t connect.

Listening

In the blogosphere, the art of 

skimming feeds to see what 

topics are bubbling up, and 

also setting up searches that 

monitor when an organization 

is mentioned.

Listserv

A list of e-mail addresses of 

people with common interests. 

Software enables people who 

belong to a list to send messages 

to the group without typing 

a series of addresses into the 

message header.

Lurkers

People who read but don’t 

contribute or add comments 
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - IV

to forums. The 1 percent rule-ofthumb suggests that 1 percent 

of people contribute new 

content to an online community, 

another nine percent comment, 

and the rest lurk.

Mashups

Mixes of technology, audio, 

video and maps combining 

several tools to create a new 

Web service. See www.popfly.

com for free development.

Networks

Structures defined by nodes and 

the connections between them. 

In social networks, the nodes 

are people, and the connections 

are the relationships that they 

have. Networking is the process 

by which you develop and 

strengthen those relationships.

Newsgroup

Internet “site” centered around 

a specific topic or course. Some 

newsreader software can 

“thread” discussion so there 

can be various topics centered 

around a central theme.

newsreader

Web site or desktop tool that 

acts as an aggregator, gathering 

content from blogs and similar 

sites using RSS feeds so you 

can read the content in one 

place, instead of having to visit 

different sites.

Open-source

software

Software that is available under 

a license that permits users to 

study, change and improve the 

software, and to redistribute 

it in modified or unmodified 

form. It is often developed in 

a public, collaborative manner.

Peer-to-peer

Refers to direct interaction 

between two people in a 

network. In that network, each 

peer will be connected to other 

peers, opening the opportunity 

for further sharing and learning.

Permalink

The address (URL) of an item 

of content, for example a blog 

post, rather than the address of a 

Web page with lots of different 

items. You will often find it at 

the end of a blog post.

Photosharing

Uploading images to a Web 

site like Flickr or Picasa, adding 

tags and offering people the 

opportunity to comment or 

even re-use your photos if you 

add an appropriate copyright 

license.

podcast

Audio or video content that can 

be downloaded automatically 

through a subscription to a Web 

site so you can view or listen 

offline.

Post

Item on a blog or forum.

Presence online

Has (at least) two aspects. One 

is whether you show up when 

someone does a search on your 

name. The second is whether 

you use tools that show you are 

available for contact by instant 

messaging, voice over IP, or 

other synchronous methods 

of communication.

Profiles

Information that users provide 

about themselves when signing 

up for a social networking site. 

As well as a picture and basic 

information, this may include 

personal and business interests, 

a “blurb” and tags to help 

people search for like-minded 

people.

Remixing

Social media offers the 

possibility of taking different 

items of content, identified by 

tags and published through 

feeds, and combining them in 

different ways.

RSS

Short for Really Simple 

Syndication. This allows 

subscribers to receive content 

from blogs and other social 

media sites and have it delivered 

through a feed.

Shockwave

A three dimensional (3D) 

animation technology/format.

Sharing

Offering other people the use of 

text, images, video, bookmarks 

or other content by adding tags, 

and applying copyright licenses 

that encourage use of content.

Smartmob

When users get together for an 

activity or event as a result of an 

online connection or network.

Social media

Tools and platforms people 

use to publish, converse and 

share content online. The tools 

include blogs, wikis, podcasts 

and sites to share photos and 

bookmarks.

Social

networking

Online places where users 

can create a profiles, and then 

socialize with others using a 
N e w M e d i a a n d t h e A i r F o r c e - V

range of social media tools 

including blogs, video, images, 

tags, lists of friends, forums and 

messages.

Streaming media

Video or audio that is intended 

to be listened to online but not 

stored permanently.

Tags

Keywords added to a blog post, 

photo or video to help users 

find related topics or media.

Threads

Strands of conversation.

Trackback

A facility for other bloggers 

to leave a calling card 

automatically, instead of 

commenting. Blogger A may 

write on blog A about an item 

on blogger B’s site, and through 

the trackback facility leave a 

link on B’s site back to A. The 

collection of comments and 

trackbacks on a site facilitates 

conversations.

Transparency

Enhances searching, sharing, 

self-publish and commenting 

across networks, makes it easier 

to find out what’s going on in 

any situation where there is 

online activity.

Troll

A hurtful, but possibly valuable, 

person who, for whatever 

reason, is both obsessed 

by and constantly annoyed 

with, and deeply offended by 

everything you write on a blog. 

One may not be able to stop the 

commenting of trolls on your 

blog, but you can’t ban them 

from commenting on other sites 

and pointing back to the blog, 

and they can’t be banned from 

posting things on their own blog 

that point back to your site.

URL

Unique Resource Locator is 

the technical term for a Web 

address like http://www.af.mil.

User-generated

content

Text, photos and other material 

produced by people who 

previously just consumed. See 

content.

Virtual worlds

Online places like Second 

Life, where you can create a 

representation of yourself (an 

avatar) and socialize with other 

residents. Basic activity is free, 

but you can buy currency (using 

real money) in order to purchase 

land and trade with other 

residents. Second Life is being 

used by some organizations to 

run discussions, virtual events 

and fundraising.

Web 2.0

A term coined by O’Reilly Media 

in 2004 to describe blogs, wikis, 

social networking sites and 

other Internet-based services 

that emphasize collaboration 

and sharing, rather than less 

interactive publishing (Web 

1.0). It is associated with the 

idea of the Internet as platform.

Widgets

Stand-alone applications, that 

can be embedded in other 

applications, like a Web site or 

a desktop, or viewed on a PDA. 

These may help accomplish 

missions like subscribe to a feed, 

do a specialist search or even 

make a donation.

Whiteboards

Online are the equivalent of 

glossy surfaces where one 

can write with an appropriate 

marker pen and wipe off later. 

They are tools that enable one 

to write or sketch on a Web 

page, and as such are useful 

in collaboration online.

WIKI

A Web page—or set of 

pages—that can be edited 

collaboratively. The best 

known example is Wikipedia, 

an encyclopedia created by 

thousands of contributors across 

the world. Once people have 

appropriate permissions —set 

by the wiki owner—they can 

create pages and/or add to and 

alter existing pages.

XML

(Extensible Markup Language)

System for organizing and 

tagging elements of a document 

so that the document can be 

transmitted and interpreted 

between applications and 

organizations. Human readable 

XML tags defines “what it is,” 

and HTML defines “how it 

looks.” XML allows designers 

to create their own tags.
To see our Air Force Videos visit: 

www.youtube.com/afbluetube

To read our Blogs visit: 

airforcelive.dodlive.mil

To visit our online New Media Dashboard go to: 

www.netvibes.com/usafpublicaffairs

For more information, call AFPAA at 703-696-1158