ArsGeek

For all the social blather that is released on Twitter on an hourly basis, there are some serious topics being tweeted. Among the more serious tweeters is the communication branch of the U.S. military, which regularly tweets war news from Afghanistan.

The U.S.’s war reporting has an active following on Twitter. Frequent disclosure of U.S. activity overseas keeps family members, military followers, veterans, and the average U.S. citizen in the know about their family members, colleagues and fellow patriots. It’s a great way to get plugged in to the national spirit. It’s a real-time way of keeping current. And that is precisely the intent of the Twitter updates. The new administration wants to posture itself as open and communicative about its actions. The government is now trying to disclose more about their actions and activities—at least in this aspect.

Critics have lambasted the venue as inappropriate. After all, some of the tweets might go something like this: “3 US troops killed during surprise insurgent attack.” Since Twitter is typically viewed as a light technological social adventure, many have disagreed with the government’s use of Twitter as a way of reporting war casualties. As one news report conjectures, “it is interesting that the Pentagon has chosen to embrace a channel of communication that has not yet proven to be effective in delivering serious news.” However, not everyone uses the social forum for “light” dialogue. After all, many companies use it to drive sales, update their constituents, and keep current with technology. Twitter has more uses than merely to incessantly report the random wanderings of bored minds.

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