World View

How Social Media War Was Waged in Gaza-Israel Conflict

by Jaron Gilinsky

Both sides deployed dangerous new media weapons during this latest round of fighting in Gaza. Armed with Facebook profiles, Twitter accounts, and Lavazza espresso, warriors fearlessly and tirelessly scoured the cyber battlefield searching for enemy (blog) outposts. Outfitted with high-tech ammunition like HD videocameras, firewire 800s, and white phosphorescent keyboards, they attacked one-sided videos, slanted essays, and enemy propaganda with...

• February 13, 2009
• 6 comments

Digging Deeper

Milbloggers Upset with Restrictions, But Won't Stop Blogging

by Mark Glaser

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• May 23, 2007
• 3 comments

Your Take

How should the military respond to citizen journalism in the field of combat?

by Mark Glaser

Ever since the advent of U.S. military personnel blogging about their experiences in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military brass has been in a conundrum. Do they allow these eye-opening first-person accounts from the front lines, or do they try to rein them in to keep control over the storylines of the Iraq War? Not only are milblogs providing...

• April 3, 2007
• 2 comments

Digging Deeper

Valour-IT, Milblogs Give Hundreds of Laptops to Wounded Soldiers

by Mark Glaser

As I sit here and type this blog post, I pause for a moment to consider how important my fingers and hands are to me as a blogger and writer. If I should be injured or lose the use of my hands in some awful accident, what would I do?

• December 6, 2006
• 24 comments

Digging Deeper

Pentagon PR Blogger Explains Military's New Media Challenge

by Mark Glaser

The U.S. military is proud of its history and strength as a top-down organization, with a clear chain of command. In fact, you can't talk to anyone in military public affairs (the equivalent of private-sector public relations) without hearing the inevitable phrase "chain of command" in response to a question.

• November 15, 2006
• 7 comments

Digging Deeper

'War Tapes' Film Lets Soldiers Tell Their Stories from Iraq

by Mark Glaser

So many times on the Internet, I've watched a video clip of combat in Iraq that looks like it was shot by a soldier. I hear some talking, the sound of shooting, screams and yelps in the background. But just as often I don't have the context of who was filming, why they are filming and what's going on inside their head. Where are they? What's the situation? Did they succeed or fail?

• August 15, 2006
• No comments