Perceptions on Social Networking: A Study on Their Operational Relevance for the Navy

Abstract

Since the beginning of civilization, humans formed social networks under communities bound by common interest. Today the ubiquity of the Internet provides ample opportunity for these groups, once limited by geography, to connect easily and expand beyond city and national borders. The U.S. Navy provides an opportunity to harness the power of electronic social networks to improve enterprise-wide information sharing across strategic, operational, and tactical forums. These networks of trusted connections among people ensure means for watch standers and decision makers to share trusted information with seasoned leaders and subject matter experts. The leverage of electronic social networks in the Navy is significant during manpower reductions that present limiting opportunities for face-to-face collaboration and mentoring, a critical aspect to a war-fighting organization. This thesis presents an evaluation and comparison of the perceptions of social networking of current and future leadership on the value of social networking tools. Moreover, this analysis applies specifically to Navy operations. The relevance of collaboration, trust, professional development, and technological opportunity is examined.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA518381

Entities

People

  • Jeffrey G. Bennington
  • Ryan H. King

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Business Administration
  • Employment
  • Information Exchange
  • Information Science
  • Information Systems
  • Internet
  • Management Personnel
  • Network Protocols
  • Network Science
  • Online Communications
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Social Media
  • Social Networking Services
  • Social Networks
  • Students
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Agent-Based Social Robotics and Mobile-Assisted Learning in Virtual Environments.
  • Economics
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics