In the midst of news that Rupert “I outsourced Satan” Murdoch, who has done his best to undermine democracy here and human decency everywhere else, has been using drones to covertly spy upon Americans, I find that our own Department of Defence has decided to join the social media revolution. Does that officially make Twitter uncool?!
Your Tweets are Under Surveillance
The Defense Department has announced a new project to follow you in cyberspace. No, they’re not friending you on Facebook or plus-one-ing you on Google+ (is anyone bothering to do that still?), but they might be following you on Twitter.
Look for the new follower @janejones or @samsmith in your tweetstream.
This new initiative, Social Media in Strategic Communication (SMISC), which will cost around $42 million will attempt to follow memes and trends, apparently mostly on Twitter. The DoD wants to keep tabs on your passing whims in case they might reveal a threat to security. Their fourfold plan includes:
1. Detect, classify, measure and track the (a) formation, development and spread of ideas and concepts (memes), and (b) purposeful or deceptive messaging and misinformation.
Will they follow the latest fake celebrity-has-died rumour in case it has more sinister implications? Will they be able to stop a meme from happening or a trend from sprouting? Will they be able to put an end to Owling?!…
K. A. Laity 