Two bloggers recently posted, about SAF’s heavy-handed approach for service personnels who are active in the social network scene. Brennan argued for for personnels to be tacit & discreet when posting matters related to their units, while SingaporeCitizen espouses freedom of speech as the best weapon to uncover abuses and mismanagement.
Comments for either bloggers came pretty fast; with most defending MINDEF, surprisingly, coming from bloggers camp, themselves. For me, as I had commented on the SingaporeCitizen blog-post, and I repeat here,
“… I would prefer to take the middle approach. Let’s see what exactly is being blogged/discussed.
If its about the latest capabilities, let’s just leave it to Pioneer to boast about it in their latest edition of the magazine.
If its about certain loopholes within the organisation that may result in crippling our national defenses, then greater care must be paid attention to that instead of highlighting on a public forum.
I would hope for better interaction from either party with regards to this issue. Instead of the be all and end all freedom of speech and whathaveyous. …”
I thought this line of commenting is reasonable in that, there are no extreme ends or prejudices towards either side. Of course, living in a real world, this is hardly the case. I am under the impression that the SingaporeCitizen is extremely prejudicial towards the present Government and the MINDEF, in view of a lot of bad press that has circulated due to various lawsuits since we achieved Independence.
Let me state that, it is not my place to single out SingaporeCitizen to be hung dry or questioned or levelled unfairly. SingaporeCitizen makes valid points with regards to us being taxpayers demanding transparency on how the army handles itself and have suggested that any logical thinking person would think that “… military information and technology is more important and critical to national defence than discussing bad practices, abuses or incompetency done in closed doors …”.
While I have no solution to either points of view, other than taking the middle road, an interesting post was blogged recently by Global Nerdy, with regards to how the United States Air Force engages the social network. By using the chart which I will copy below; they have a pretty defined idea as to which comment that needs addressing, monitored or simply, ignored.
This response chart reflects a rather balanced approach; approaching the topic that is being discussed rather than engaging directly to clamp them down. The labels given to various behaviours, Trolls, Rager, Misguided and Unhappy Customer are simple terms to which anyone reading through the chart will understand.
The response consideration itself is also well-balanced. As a uniformed organisation, identity forms part of the credibility. Therefore, it is very important to disclose USAF credentials when engaging the social media scene. Having a backup of facts, figures and references will also be important to back up the credibility. Taking the time to engage ensure that the replies are not forced; as that they may end up having a very bad consequence, if the accusations or comments were not erroneous in the first place. Responsible replies do not take on an aggressive tone. Being cordial and civil usually suffice for any form of communications. And choosing the location to respond to is also an important consideration. An isolated blog site, which does not have as many traffic need not be entertained as much, compared to a heavily trafficked one.
This chart may not be the perfect one, but thankfully there is one created in that military organisations the world over could perhaps incorporate into their community & public relations team.This bodes well for the future of social media and social networking. We can have freedom of speech and we can have that freedom supported by the promises of our own Constitution which is uphold by our armed forces.
Sources: please click on any of the links below for further reading on this matter.
http://brennan.sg/2009/01/05/saf-clamping-down-on-ns-facebookies/
http://singaporecitizen.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/blogging-will-destroy-our-nation/
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/tve/?p=455
http://www.globalnerdy.com/2008/12/30/the-air-forces-rules-of-engagement-for-blogging/
