Military blogging has become a revelation to military troops who are heading off to war. They can send messages home to their friends and family with a single blog. They can describe combat, write anonymous prose, and even make fun or their commanding officers anonymously. Many soldiers, sailors, and airmen discovered much to their delight and shock, that thousands of strangers were also reading their blogs.
In 2007, there were thousands of military blogs that weren't just written by the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq but also by other veterans, spouses, and parents. They even had their own website known as Milblogging.com, which was the creation of Jean Paul Borda, who was as early practitioner.
However, military blogging has seen some considerable changes since those days. These days, there are more blogs about life back home and less blogs about the combat of today. In addition, the Pentagon has now become fascinated with social media, although they once tried to shut down or at least control bloggers. Numerous battalion and company commanders have pages on Facebook, the armed services all have accounts on Twitter, and there is even a general's blog.
The fact is that military blogging has now gone mainstream. Recently, Donald H. Rumsfeld, who as secretary of defense was considered to look with skepticism on the early military blogs addressed the Sixth Annual Conference about military blogging. He reported that he appreciated what the blogger did but didn't understand it. The conference provided some insight about how military blogging has become so popular.
The Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Army Reserve all sent representatives to express how wonderful social media was. One Lt. General who was an early supporter of blogging answered questions from Afghanistan. It was quite different than the early days when males dominated the audience because there were as many women in the audience as there were men.
Blogging military spouses might be the primary growth area in military blogging, although military families have long used social media and blogs in order to share experiences. There are numerous blogs and new blogs are being born every week, which underscores both the utilitarian and the emotional power of the Internet.
However, the average soldier, sailor, and airman aren't blogging as much anymore probably because military blogging has become considerably more formalized.
Military bloggers were not only ahead of the game in describing the gains from the surge and the problems with the strategy in Iraq, but also provided some of the most fascinating reports of combat at the time.
However, there are many military bloggers who have turned to advice columns about veteran services or the military in general, politics, or policy analysis. Many others have stopped blogging altogether. But for a while there, military blogging was mainstream.
In 2007, there were thousands of military blogs that weren't just written by the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq but also by other veterans, spouses, and parents. They even had their own website known as Milblogging.com, which was the creation of Jean Paul Borda, who was as early practitioner.
However, military blogging has seen some considerable changes since those days. These days, there are more blogs about life back home and less blogs about the combat of today. In addition, the Pentagon has now become fascinated with social media, although they once tried to shut down or at least control bloggers. Numerous battalion and company commanders have pages on Facebook, the armed services all have accounts on Twitter, and there is even a general's blog.
The fact is that military blogging has now gone mainstream. Recently, Donald H. Rumsfeld, who as secretary of defense was considered to look with skepticism on the early military blogs addressed the Sixth Annual Conference about military blogging. He reported that he appreciated what the blogger did but didn't understand it. The conference provided some insight about how military blogging has become so popular.
The Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Army Reserve all sent representatives to express how wonderful social media was. One Lt. General who was an early supporter of blogging answered questions from Afghanistan. It was quite different than the early days when males dominated the audience because there were as many women in the audience as there were men.
Blogging military spouses might be the primary growth area in military blogging, although military families have long used social media and blogs in order to share experiences. There are numerous blogs and new blogs are being born every week, which underscores both the utilitarian and the emotional power of the Internet.
However, the average soldier, sailor, and airman aren't blogging as much anymore probably because military blogging has become considerably more formalized.
Military bloggers were not only ahead of the game in describing the gains from the surge and the problems with the strategy in Iraq, but also provided some of the most fascinating reports of combat at the time.
However, there are many military bloggers who have turned to advice columns about veteran services or the military in general, politics, or policy analysis. Many others have stopped blogging altogether. But for a while there, military blogging was mainstream.
The Communication Blog
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