No, at least not yet…

Following the Wikileaks debacle a couple of months ago the United States military is taking a good hard look at how soldiers are allowed to use the internet and computers.  A ban has been implemented on the use of compact discs by military personnel and military leadership is now looking at potential impact from social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

A forthcoming policy will allow for social media use by soldiers, as stated on the tecca.com website:

U.S. troops might not be allowed to use CDs these days, but they can still tweet. The Pentagon’s announcement that it would dissolve its social media office seems to suggest otherwise, and according to Pentagon spokesperson Bryan Whitman, that’s miscommunicated the military’s intentions. Rather than shutting down its communication lines, the military’s social media-related needs will be spread across offices, encouraging a wider integration of services like Facebook and Twitter.

Article quote from: Taylor Hatmaker, “Military won’t implement a ban on social media,” http://www.tecca.com/news/2011/01/14/military-wont-implement-a-ban-on-social-media/, January 14, 2011 (accessed January 15, 2011).

As social media becomes a larger and larger source of communication for us all in our day to day lives it’s difficult to rationalize an all out ban on social media for our soldiers.  However with the privacy issues that currently surround social media this is no doubt an issue that will be continually addressed by those in power.

On March 1, 2011 current guidelines on social media use set by the Department of Defense are set to expire.  With the expiration of this policy will we see a military ban on social media or will we see a more permanent social media policy put into place?

You tell us, should the military ban social media for troops?