Social Media and the National Security Professional - Via SocialComputingMagazine.com :

Social Media is a term used to encompass a wide range of technologies used to enhance shared meaning among participants. When properly used, Social Media capabilities also address the information explosion we are all experiencing. Social Media includes weblogs, wikis, email, instant messaging, tagging and broadcast text. Popular social media services include such familiar names as AIM, TypePad, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Plaxo.

This note captures some tips and techniques for the use of social media focused on national security professionals.

First, for context and background, let me start with the analogy of traditional media and it's still significant contribution to dialog in the national security space. Great thinkers with something to say frequently author an editorial submission to news outlets. Examples abound, but as a reference let me point out the thought provoking piece by Mark Lowenthal in the 25 May 2008 Washington Post titled "The Real Intelligence Failure? Spineless Spies." Here one of the more elegant writers in the intelligence community laid out his personal views and made a contribution to the dialog on the intelligence community. This type of article is of value in helping us collectively think through some key issues. The article also underscores that the explosion of social media des not eliminate the need and value for authoritative voices.

Now let's discuss how new media helps the dialog.

With new media, you do not have to be one of the leaders of the national security domain to publish your thoughts. You can establish your own blog. There are many services that do this. The most popular ones are Moveable Type and TypePad. I like them both but have more experience with TypePad (that is where I host my CTOvision.com blog). You can have a blog up in minutes, and with a little more time you can have your own domain and a blog configured with your own design. Having a blog does not mean you are automatically an expert, but when you have something to say you will have a path to say it.

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Another example of the power of social media for national security professionals is in coordinating action and participation prior to conferences. How do you decide which conferences to attend? I try to pulse experts to see who else is going. Once I make up my mind I let everyone I network with know I'll be there so they can advise me of their intentions and so we can arrange side bar meetings as required. This is all so simple in the world of social media like Twitter, Plaxo and Blogs.

So a key benefit of Social Media for national security planners is to accelerate good ideas, whether they be good ideas for policy or good ideas for technology. Social Media can also be leveraged to address the information explosion by enabling people to enlist the capability of others to seek out and bring the right information to your attention. These others can be crowds, random individuals, fields of experts or trusted friends. Which of these you leverage can vary from subject to subject or task to task.

Is there a dark side for national security? What are the risks of social media? Perhaps the greatest risks are that we not fully engage in the power of these tools, especially when adversaries are not constraining themselves. But there are risks to mitigate in our use of new media. These include risks to the confidentiality of ongoing operations and in some cases risks to personal security. By identifying these risks and taking steps to address them now we can accelerate the use of new media faster through the community.

I have personally encountered several other examples, but it seems we have just scratched the surface on the benefit of these capabilities to our nation's security. New thinkers are pioneering paths that are already helping the nation come to grips with some significant issues. With more participation by thinkers like you the contributions of social media will likely grow in importance. So please, if you have not started engaging in social media sites yet, jump in now.

(Read Original Article - Via SocialComputingMagazine.com .)