Enabled Masses: Challenge and Trust within Modern Social Networks
Abstract
Capstone Concept for Joint Operations: Joint Force 2020 attributes remarkably transformative consequences to the diffusion of new communications technologies, asserting that social networks act as a catalyst for change and that mobile technology presents a challenge to future operations in terms of increased scrutiny. Senior military leaders need to understand and appreciate the human processes underlying social networks as well as why this medium can empower the many to challenge the few. This paper explores three elements of the rise of technologically enabled social networks. It first explores how people leveraged modern communication technologies to overcome political barriers and challenge authority in China, Iran and the Arab Spring, and why referring to social networking as a catalyst may diminish appreciating the importance of traditional socio-political pressures. The paper then examines the social and neuroscience behind the phenomenon of technologically enabled social networking, why visual imagery and the spread of mobile technologies present further challenges, and how organizational trust models may provide potential solutions for Joint Leaders in future operations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA589229
Entities
People
- Daniel J. King
Organizations
- United States Army War College