Transformation
Expanding the Toolkit The U.S. military’s recruiting commands are dramatically increasing their use of social network sites to educate and inform men and women about opportunities to serve their nation. Group editor Marty Kauchak reviews the scene.
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ocial networking sites have become an underpinning of the U.S. DoD’s recruiting force’s ability to fill their service’s ranks. The strategy of using social networking as a recruiting tool is allowing recruiters to dramatically expand their dialogue with prospective recruits through an ever increasing variety of social media.
ISSUE 5.2011
Top-to-Bottom Use of Social Networks
MS&T MAGAZINE
06
The strategy is a natural progression in the military’s use of technology.Recruiters need to communicate in the same medium in which its market communicates, and social media is the preferred communication method for many future airmen, marines, sailors and soldiers. By most industry estimates, more than 95 percent of 18 to 24 year olds socialize online, creating, reading or participating in social content at least monthly. Mass Communications Specialist Petty Officer Second Class Michael B. Lavender,
spokesperson for the Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, corroborated this development, noting that from July 2010 to July 2011, the command’s sponsored sites showed dramatic increases. “Fans on our Facebook sites increased 170 percent for a total of 162,263 fans. YouTube subscribers increased 77 percent for a total of 15,397 and we saw 407 percent increase in Twitter followers to 1,369.” Of particular note, recruiting commands’ evolving best practices integrate social networks throughout the entire command structure. High level, service-wide perspectives are delivered from social networking sites including the Army’s armystrongstories.com; facebook.com/ goarmy; myspace.com/army; twitter. com/goarmy; twitter.com/armyracing; youtube.com/goarmyvideos; youtube. com/armystrongstories; and flickr.com/ goarmyphotos/. John Myers, Director of Market-
Above The use of social networking sites is expanding the US DoD's dialogue with prospective recruits. Image credit: US Navy/Gary Nichols.
ing, U.S. Army Accessions Command, explained the capabilities of some of the sites. The GoArmy Facebook page and @ GoArmy Twitter feed deliver recruiting related news, career opportunities and story sharing. On Facebook, customized tabs feature in-depth career information, videos, blog posts, polls and quizzes. On YouTube, Army shares customized video features, event footage and commercial ad spots. “Army Strong Stories is a blog that allows soldiers and Army civilian employees to realistically talk about military life, service and benefits. Potential recruits can use the stories there to make more informed decisions