- Research Paper 78: “The Challenge of Social Media in Security Policy Institutions: A Note of Caution”, by Mario Masdea
The rapid dissemination of news, the globalization of our societies, the frantic pace of modern life and the trivialization of dramatic situations are factors that contribute to the increasing use of “new” or “social” media for effective communication. Security policy institutions and think tanks are using these tools massively as well, however sometimes, forgetting what it takes to use social media in a prudent way to reach as wide an audience as possible. The new research paper by the NATO Defense College aims at underlining specific requirements necessary to communicate security policy messages – which can be issues of war and peace – via social media. These sensitive messages need to be handled with care, adapting the traditional rules of communication to the specificities of the new media. Since all that glitters is not gold, detailed knowledge of communicative standards, wholesale involvement of qualified technicians and adoption of clear procedures are needed to mitigate the risks brought by these apparently user-friendly media.
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