US Military Report Explored Secretly Hiring Bloggers

Slashdot links to an article yesterday on the Wired blog Danger Room about a study by the U.S. Special Operations Command suggesting "clandestinely recruiting or hiring prominent bloggers."

Since the start of the Iraq war there's been debate over how to handle milblogs. One side feels they are security risks and a waste of time while the other side believes they can share pertinent information with family and friends and shape opinions favorable to the military.

A third approach -- included in a 2006 report for the Joint Special Operations University -- involves the consideration of "hiring a block of bloggers to verbally attack a specific person or promote a specific message. . ."

A U.S. Special Operations Command spokesman says the report was merely an academic exercise. And a co-author of the report, Dororthy Denning, adds, "I got some positive feedback from people who read the article, but I don't know if it led to anything."

Check Wired's Danger Room post for details on how the military might use blogs to their advantage.

Source: Military Report: Secretly 'Recruit or Hire Bloggers' [Danger Room]

-Dippold

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