In a surprising yet welcome move, the Army has issued an order to its network managers to allow soldiers access to previously-blocked social networking sites like Twitter and Flickr. Previously blocked for security reasons, they’re now being re-opened to “share the service’s stories” with the outside world.
I’m going to presume that this isn’t going to be entirely without caveats — I imagine that troops are, of course, going to be warned to be careful with how much they share with others. Obviously, no mention of troop movement, dispensation, tactics, etc. will be allowed out, but then I’m sure our soldiers are well aware of the dangers of disseminating that kind of information in the first place.
Also, surely the psychological and emotional benefits of letting those far away from home contact their loved ones far outweigh the risks. Put directly, these social ties can serve to strengthen a soldier’s resolve, and relieve some of the intense pressure they endure on a daily basis by merely being in the field. If even short, 140-character long dispatches from the front lines can help offset that burden, then this new resolve will have been worth it. I just hope that we won’t some day read a news story about how a carelessly-worded tweet resulted in avoidable casualties.
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