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Assessing Meaning Construction on Social SIPRI Policy Brief October 2017 ASSESSING MEANING SUMMARY w With an estimated 3.8 billion CONSTRUCTION ON SOCIAL Internet users worldwide, new media in the form of Web 2.0 MEDIA: A CASE OF applications and its user- generated content increasingly rival traditional media as the NORMALIZING MILITARISM means of circulating and gathering information. Central susan t. jackson, jutta joachim, nick robinson and to the power and importance of andrea schneiker* social media is its visuality and the speed with which content can circulate. However, INTRODUCTION project, a three-country team of research and policy often focus researchers working on a four-year on the politics of social media in Social media is a nearly ubiquitous study of the militarization of social aspect of everyday life, with terms of revolutionary change, media. For this brief, the project as a tool of radicalization, or as a political and social implications that examined a crucial aspect of societies are only now starting to resource for disseminating everyday social media usage and information and the challenges approach. With an estimated meaning construction that is almost this poses to states. 3.8 billion Internet users worldwide, totally ignored by policymakers: As a part of the Militarization new media in the form of Web the presence of the military and 2.0 project, this Policy Brief 2.0 applications and their user- content that celebrates militarism. examines the social media generated content increasingly It demonstrates the sheer scale of content that celebrates rival traditional media as the such content, discusses its meaning, militarism as an important means of circulating and gathering shows how it is engaged with and aspect of everyday social media usage and the related meaning information. Central to the power circulated by social media users construction overlooked by and importance of social media is its and discusses the implications for visuality and the speed with which policymakers. The research citizens and government. results indicate that while there content can circulate. Researchers The conclusions are perhaps and policymakers, however, have is an abundance of militaristic counter-intuitive. While the content, much of this content primarily focused on the political research identifies an extraordinary reaches targeted audiences. implications of social media in terms volume of social media content that of promoting revolutionary change celebrates war and militarism, much (e.g. the optimism around the ‘Arab of which is engaged with by tens of Spring’), as a tool of radicalization millions of social media users, it is (e.g. concerns about recruitment to also fair to say that the vast majority terrorist organizations such as the of social media users do not see Islamic State group) or as a resource nor engage with online militarism. for disseminating information and There is, therefore, a highly effective the challenges this poses to states form of ‘targeted militarism’ (e.g. Wikileaks). through which those who heavily This Policy Brief builds on the engage with militarized social work of the Militarization 2.0 media become ever more effectively *The research for this brief was funded by Vetenskapsrådet (the Swedish Research Council) as part of its ‘Digitized societies: past, present and future’ four-year framework grants. The project ‘Militarization 2.0: Militarization’s social media footprint through a gendered lens’ was conducted by teams headed by Dr Susan T. Jackson (Principal Investigator), Stockholm University; Dr Nick Robinson, University of Leeds, United Kingdom; Dr Jutta Joachim, Radboud University, Netherlands; and Dr Andrea Schneiker, University of Siegen, Germany (Grant no. VR/340/2102/5990). 2 sipri policy brief targeted by the algorithms within understandings of national security social media itself. This Policy associated with militarism. Brief explores the implications this targeting has for policymakers. THE COMMUNICATIONS The discussion seeks to TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION1 inform policymakers and their staff, members of civil society The current global information organizations (CSOs) and others age is soundly centred on a interested in assessing the communications technology political implications of meaning revolution that is redefining ‘the construction related to social media relationship between producers and content more generally, and the receivers of online information’.2 content of the large-scale producers This relationship is a crucial aspect of conventional weapons (major of how policymakers and their arms producers), the military video constituents interact. In addition, games industry, and private military the recognition that information and security companies (PMSCs) in and communication technologies particular. (ICTs) are a central part of modern The findings are particularly society has prompted policymakers important to ministries of and others to include ICTs in foreign affairs and other parts their long-term goals, for example of government that engage through the United Nations internationally or work with Sustainable Development Goals, international politics or are corporate social responsibility concerned with digital diplomacy strategies and state-level education and other more traditional forms plans. In this context, however, of security and communication. there are a number of contributors Similarly, it is vital for CSOs that are often overlooked because working on security issues or they are considered to be non- for disarmament, which face political in their messaging, such challenges from the online as corporate actors that use social activities of those who oppose media to sell products and services disarmament. Given how to general audiences. What does fundamental digital information it mean when corporate branding and online communication are lends itself to national identity for communicating with and construction at the same time as it is connecting people, this Policy Brief geared to wide swathes of the public outlines how social media can be a for general consumption? Crucial political tool in both expected and in the context of militarized social unexpected ways. It highlights the media is the fact that while some of underlying mechanisms that shape the social media content is designed the messaging on social media— to sell products in the conventional specifically in corporate YouTube sense, such as military video game videos, Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, and homepages—and how it 1 The research presented here is based is crucial at this juncture to develop primarily on platforms popular in North America and Europe (YouTube, Facebook and the skills needed to see how these Twitter) and posts primarily in English. mechanisms can be manipulated 2 Carpenter, C. and Drezner, D. W., ‘Inter- to emphasize particular national relations 2.0: The implications of new media for an old profession’, International Relations Perspective, vol. 11 (2010), pp. 255–72. social media and the normalization of militarism 3 advertisements that are designed users in the world, over 3 billion are to sell a video game or recruitment on social media platforms at any advertising for the military or a given time.5 Combined, the three PMSC, much of it also is designed major platforms covered for this to sell national security as military work have almost 4 billion users security, and to promote the view worldwide, which indicates multi- that the presence of the military in platform use and the potential for everyday life is natural. cross-platform networks. As of Digital information is becoming mid-2017, Facebook had 2.01 billion a fundamental part of the monthly-active users, Twitter had everyday lives of many people. 328 million and YouTube had More than 98 per cent of stored 1.5 billion logged-in visitors.6 Across information is now in digital all age groups, people average two form. User-generated content and hours a day of social media use other Web 2.0 applications are globally; and one in every three now challenging mass media as minutes of online time is devoted to a central way of gathering news some kind of social networking or and other information.3 The messaging.7 International Telecommunications Recent research also indicates Union (ITU)—the UN’s specialized that the growing positioning of agency for ICTs—issues an annual ICT companies report on the state of ICTs and means that Some military video game advertisements ICT use.4 According to the most online platforms that are designed to sell a video game or recent of these reports, urban and those who recruitment advertising for the military populations have more access to the develop them or a PMSC are also designed to sell Internet and younger generations are increasingly are growing up with social media part of the divide national security as military security, and as an unquestioned part of their that separates to promote the view that the presence of everyday lives. While many parts developers from the military in everyday life is natural of Africa and South East Asia lag in users, and that comparison, 830 million, or the latter are left out of decision- 80 per cent of the young people in making processes on what the the 104 countries covered in the technologies will do.8 Part of the UN report, are online. Regardless 5 of region, men are online more than Kemp, S., ‘Three billion people now use women, and the largest gender gap social media’, Wearesocial.com, 10 Aug. 2017, 4 Sep. 2017. is observed in the Least Developed 6 Matney, L., ‘YouTube has 1.5 billion Countries. Of the 3.8 billion Internet logged-in monthly users watching a ton of mobile videos’, Techcrunch.com, 4 Sep. 2017; Statista.com, ‘Number of monthly active 3 Cukier, K. N. and Mayer-Schoenberger, V., Twitter users worldwide from first quarter ‘The rise of big data: how it’s changing the way 2010 to second quarter 2017 (in millions)’ 4 Sep. we think about the world’, Foreign Affairs, May/ 2017; and Zephoria.com, ‘The top 20 valuable June 2013; and Ghannam, J., Social Media in the Facebook statistics’, updated Aug.
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