[View the story "Group shames soldiers for 'inappropriate' social media posts" on Storify ]Group shames soldiers for 'inappropriate' social media posts Facebook page 'Military Social Media Idiots' raises questions about service members and social media use. Storified by AJAMStream · Thu, Feb 27 2014 14:23:47
Timeline Photos - Military Social Media Idiots | FacebookFacebook
The first debate centered on the appropriateness of the page itself:
I am a fan of the site and hope it helps deter Soldoers from making career ending social media mistakesfacebook.com
You say they are disgracing the uniform in a public forum, so how is sharing their pictures to even more people going to help? Are you trying to stop this behavior, or are you just trying to put it on Facebook to get a few laughs and "likes" for your page?facebook.com
I say that if they are willing to post it online for public use than its fair game for them to be put on blast. Out of reg is out of reg period!George F. Wilson
One commenter said privacy settings should determine whether to shame a service member:
if it looks like, or you have no proof that it wasn't, a private picture, then steer clear.facebook.com
When the page received a deluge of submissions for crowdsourced photos considered controversial, another debate ensued regarding what is "shame-worthy" enough to be posted on the page. While some felt any picture showing a violation of the army's personal appearance policies should be posted, others felt a more nuanced approach should be taken:
if there is any sort of uniform violation according to AR 670-1 I'd say post the picture.Matthew McNeal
It isn't so much of them taking a selfie in uniform, we've all done it. It's the comments that go along with the picture that make it utterly disrespectful. Especially when you took an oath. You expect people in uniform to hold themselves at a higher standardLeah Beesmer Litchford
Several accused the page of racism, pointing out that the majority of the posted pictures were of black service members. When some responded with defensive and sometimes hostile comments, the page administrator warned any soldiers commenting that they face the same repercussions as the soldiers being shamed on the site.
From a fan: There are a number of Soldiers within this group posting openly racist, disparaging, belittling, degrading, and completely inappropriate comments about fellow Soldiers. Understand this page is not protected and is visible for everyone to see. I caution all Soldiers posting within this group, just as easily as one Soldier is prosecuted for a photo you can be as well. All it takes is for a leader to be directed to this page to see the vulgarity and virtual misconduct. I am not saying you can not comment or have a voice as Soldiers, you must ensure your virtual conduct is as patriotic and honorable as the service you represent. Just a word of caution
Some felt this phenomenon of inappropriate social media posts was the result of a new generation of recruits who are young and unclear on the meaning and rules of being a soldier or professional:
one of the hardest things for me to realize is that a lot of these kids are coming straight out of high school and haven't had to act like grown ups yet and never had to give much thought to professionalism and public image. Now that young troops coming in to service grew up in the social media age I think TRADOC really needs to start thinking about pushing more awareness to these kidsfacebook.com
Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
echoed this sentiment.
“I worry a bit about … the young men and women who are now in their teens, early teens, and who probably underestimate the impact of their persona in social media and what impact that could have later in life on things like security clearances and promotions and selections,”stripes.com
One commenter said he believed more problems would arise when service members use social media:
Social media will ultimately lead to the downfall of very many servicemembers careers. Mark my words everybody, this is only the tip of the iceberg for future things to come.Cecil Edward Smith III
What do you think of the Facebook page? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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