Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
What PAOs and commanders need to know to
make these free delivery platforms work for their
units, and more importantly, what should be
avoided at all costs.
Maj Steven Solomon
National PA Team Leader
Summer National Board
Louisville, Ky.
19 Aug. 2011
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
At the completion of this presentation, participants will be
able to:
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Define social media and Web 2.0
Explain the impact social media has had on CAP
Recognize how social media tools can be used by CAP
Describe CAP’s regulations for using social media
Develop a list of social media to support CAP
Use tools to monitor social media trends and analysis
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
In the beginning, Internet
users were limited to
passive viewing of
websites with content
created for them. There
wasn’t any usergenerated content
(pictures, videos,
commenting, etc.)
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Software innovator Tim
O’Reilly calls the current
Internet era “Web 2.0,”
because websites can
now be created by
anyone with a computer
and Internet access.
Wikipedia says Web 2.0
“allows users to interact
and collaborate with each
other in a social media
dialogue .”
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Monologue has
given way to
dialogue.
-Brian Solis, author of
“Engage!”
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Traditional media (newspapers, radio, TV,
magazines and billboards) were the major
conduits of information for the past
century. Now, 6.9 billion people use the
Internet!
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Who uses social media?
American Red Cross
DHS
EAA
FAA
FEMA
U.S. Army
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
The White House
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
“The Air Force views
personal Web sites and
blogs positively, and it
respects the rights of
Airmen to use them as a
medium of selfexpression.”
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Why use Social Media?
• To
supplement traditional media
• To reach a wider audience
• To increase delivery speed of message
• Information is sent through the same
mechanisms that citizens are sharing with
friends and family
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Founded in 2004, Facebook
is a social utility that helps
more than 750 million
active users communicate
with their friends, family
and co-workers.
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
MySpace is an online
community that lets you
share photos, journals and
interests with a network of
130 million mutual friends.
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Twitter is an online social
networking and
microblogging service
with 200 million users.
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
YouTube is a video
sharing website, on which
users can upload, share
and view videos.
Flickr is an image
hosting and video
hosting website.
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
All levels of Civil Air Patrol, from National
Headquarters to the local squadrons, are
encouraged to create and use social media
to help reach out to their membership,
potential members, friends of CAP and the
general public by telling their local and
national CAP Stories.
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
CAP currently engages in basic Web 2.0.
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
CAP social media:
•Must operate with the commander’s consent.
•Shall be overseen by the public affairs officer .
•Will make use of CAP logos and seals as per CAPR 900-2.
•Will not violate OPSEC requirements.
•Will respect copyrights in content.
•Should use links to nationally produced multi-media, CAP
news releases, articles and images.
•Should be maintained and updated on a regular basis.
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Social Media may require a new approach
to communications language:
Facebook
Friending
Tagged
Like
Twitter
Tweet / ReTweet
Following / Followers
(Tweeps / Twits)
Mentions
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
What can be posted?
•New member welcomes
•Promotions
•Change of command
•New duty assignments
•Announcements
•Tweet at activities
•Training news
•Mission exercise updates
•Encampment news
•Color guard dates
•Video of events
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Social media can be measured
quantitatively and qualitatively
By the numbers:
Total posts, tweets, mentions or responses indicate level of
activity;
Total followers/friends and count of “impressions” indicate
potential audience;
Views/clicks can be measured through YouTube;
Tone:
Social media analysis summaries can describe tone of
coverage, from positive, neutral to negative.
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Social Media is here to stay and is
critical to the success of CAP.
Understand every communication
mechanism that can impact the
view of CAP by our stakeholders!
Learning Lab - Social Media for the Civil Air Patrol
Summary questions you should now be able to
answer:
• How can you use social media to get CAP information
out to our stakeholders/citizens?
• How could social media provide an advantage or
disadvantage to traditional communication channels (such
as radio, TV)?
• How would PAOs use social media differently than
traditional communication channels?