It is official – U.S. military personnel can now tweet. Signaling the end of a three-year ban, on February 26, 2010, the Department of Defense (DoD) finally lifted the restrictions on social media sites for military personnel, allowing all users of unclassified computers in the .mil domain to use Facebook and Twitter and numerous other sites. The Pentagon’s long-awaited social media use policy came upon the heels of determination by government officials that there was indeed value in new Internet capabilities that the DoD wished to take advantage of to communicate with soldiers, families, and the public at large. Previously, the DoD had banned access to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, and several other sites for security or other reasons.

 According to news reports, the open-access policy will apparently rely largely on the responsible use by troops, much as they practice operational security in other means of communication, such as telephone conversations and letters. It is also a reflection of “increased security measures” the DoD has taken, said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.

 Although military personnel will have access to popular social networking sites, “official” military presence on the Web, however, such as an individual official’s Twitter page, must be approved by the individual’s command, be registered with public affairs, use official DoD and command logos, and link to the organization’s official Web site, the new policy states. Further, access to prohibited content sites — those featuring pornography, gambling or hate crime-related material — will remain off-limits.

Although the new social media policy is progressive, it is not entirely accurate to characterize the DoD as being completely in the dark on social media before its release. For example, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, is also chief of tweets, with a Twitter feed with more than 16,000 followers.

For the story as reported by the American Forces Press Service, please click here: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=58117 <http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=58117>

For the official press release, please click here: http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13338 <http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13338>

For more information or help on crafting a social media policy for your business or office, please contact Ice Miller at info@theiceloop.com <mailto:info@theiceloop.com>