The emerging importance of Facebook for U.S. Army communications

While at The Pentagon on Friday, I had a chance to see the five-acre inner courtyard at the center of the building. It is a remarkably tranquil park where people meet, take a break, or grab lunch.

I interviewed Lieutenant Colonel Kevin V. Arata, U.S. Army, Director, Online and Social Media Division in the courtyard. We discussed social media in the Army and especially the growing importance of Facebook for communications today. In just six months, the US Army Facebook page has 65,000 fans and there is a very active Wall.

Direct link to the video here.

Here are some of the Army's sites:
U.S. Army web presence
ArmyLive blog
U.S. Army on Facebook
U.S. Army on Twitter
U.S. Army on Flickr
U.S. Army on YouTube
U.S. Army on Vimeo
U.S. Army on iReport
U.S. Army on NowPublic
U.S. Army on Delicious

If you have been following this blog, you know that I have been blogging all week about what I learned during my day with the DoD. If you missed it, here are the other posts.

Discussion with Roxie Merritt, Director of New Media Operations at the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs in the U.S. Department of Defense.

Interview with Brian Natwick, The Pentagon Channel merging television and Web-based content

Armed with Science: Brand journalism in the U.S. Military humanizes a huge organization

I hope you enjoyed these five blog posts about communications within the U.S. Department of Defense. I'd like to thank LT Jennifer Cragg, New Media Directorate, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, Defense Media Activity who set up all the interviews for me and educated me about the inner workings of public affairs at the DoD. She even drove me to the various locations during terrible traffic -- we were never late. Thank you LT Cragg.

Comments

[Mark]

The US Army has been out in front of many of these trends dating back to the 90s. Their marketing efforts have been tremendous and the addition of Facebook as a tool is just further proof that they understand times have changed and are reacting to the changing landscape.

[Eric Schwartzman]

One of the biggest challenges is living up to the slogan "every service member a spokesperson" which obviously makes policy, training and education critical. I'd be curious to know what you think of how the @USArmy is handling public affairs social media training at DINFOS. Here's a link to a PR podcast with Staff Sgt. Joshua Salmons -- http://bit.ly/3FhpUz What do you think of their approach?

[David Meerman Scott]

Hi Eric, I can't comment on the education aspect.

I know that the intention is there. The formal guidelines will be coming soon. But I do not have any information on staff training. I'll try to learn about it though.

David