Military Social Media Trends
Social media plays a significant role in today’s military community. Popular social media platforms provide service members, military spouses, and military children an accessible way to connect with people and places. The modern military lifestyle is often accompanied by geographic distance among friends and families; thus, social media apps can be a great way for military community members to stay in touch with loved ones, keep up with events in their hometown, and learn about new duty stations. Many veterans remain connected after transitioning from the military with the people and places they encountered during military service. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat - these popular platforms overcome geographical barriers between members of the military community.
The military community spends a lot of time on social media.
A 2020 survey of U.S.-active duty military service members revealed higher social media usage across this population than in the civilian population. According to SheerID, over 90 percent of service members and military spouses are active on at least one social media platform. Approximately 87 percent of military officers reported having a personal Facebook account, and 71 percent of military officers reported having multiple social media accounts. Military commands that understand the unique role social media plays in community engagement and outreach, may utilize social media to streamline public-facing communications, boost morale among service members and military families, bridge the civilian-military divide, and support military recruiting efforts of Millennials and Gen Zers. While beneficial to the overall mission in some cases, social media can be somewhat of a double-edged sword for the military community. Service members that engage in unprofessional or irresponsible online conduct have the potential to negatively impact military readiness, recruitment, and retention.
The lifestyle differences between civilians and military families likely influence the differences in social media usage across the cohorts. Deployments, Permanent Change of Station (PCS), and service-connected injuries are just a few of the notable military-specific lifecycle events that have the potential to influence social media behavior. Social media is routinely used to help military community members find jobs, research brands and organizations, and establish a new network in a new location. High social media usage among military families has been associated with strengthening family bonds during long periods of separation, such as during a deployment or training; however, it has also been associated with heightened levels of anxiety, especially among military children. For many military-connected social media users, the costs vs. benefits of increased electronic connection are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
What social media apps are most popular with the modern military community?
Social media app popularity across the active-duty military population tends to align with generational trends observed in civilian populations. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat remain the most frequented social media platforms by active-duty social media users. In addition, Pinterest usage is high among female military spouses, and LinkedIn is very popular across the veteran community. While Tik Tok was reported in 2022 as making the top five most popular social media apps for active-duty servicemembers, the subsequent DoD bans of the app are likely to have resulted in a decline in usage by service members. Given the data collection processes on app users, there are numerous security concerns with military service members downloading and accessing unauthorized, unsafe social media apps on government-issued mobile devices.
There are a few notable exceptions to popular social media apps with the U.S. military population. For example, a 2020 study of cadets at the United States Military Academy (West Point) revealed that Jodel - a relatively obscure, German-based anonymous hyperlocal social media app - was reported to be in the top five most frequented social media apps. This was distinct from civilian populations of the age demographic (18-23 years old) who do not frequent Jodel. Instead, civilian Gen Z college students prefer Yik Yak, Sidechat, and Fizz for hyperlocal social media platforms. Students at federal service academies, including the U.S. Naval Academy, West Point, and the U.S. Air Force Academy, are noted to be using Jodel to cyberbully and harass students, faculty, and staff - actions that are in clear violation of acceptable conduct for future officers in the United States military. Additionally, federal service academy-affiliated Jodel online communities are fraught with hate speech, mis/disinformation, and even threats of violence.
Military community members are subject to unique social media policies and regulations.
Service members are subject to additional policies and regulations regarding social media usage that civilian social media users do not encounter. For example, military community members are instructed to maintain operations security (OPSEC) at all times. Regarding social media, service members and family members should be careful not to reveal confidential information, such as training or deployment location. If this information got into the wrong hands, it could compromise the effectiveness of the mission. Additionally, the DoD has instructed military personnel not to download or use Tik Tok due to national security concerns related to the app.
The Department of Defense (DoD) recently released its first branch-wide social media policy - DOD Instruction 5400.17, "Official Use of Social Media for Public Affairs Purposes." This policy was intended to provide guidelines for operating social media accounts, including personal social media accounts by service members and DoD employees. In an interview with Military.com, Andy Oare, Director of Digital Media for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, stated, “We don't want to be overly prescriptive on how people use social media. We want them to use it, but we want to just put in place some commonsense principles for how to represent yourself correctly and how to represent the department."
It’s likely we’ll see additional revisions to this policy over the next few years, as social media continues to evolve and the DoD updates policy applications and training.
Effective military-inclusive outreach strategy includes social media.
Social media can be a good way for government, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations to connect with the military community, including service members, veterans, military spouses, veteran caregivers, and military children. The U.S. military population often seeks to engage with organizations offering supportive resources and programs relevant to the lifestyle demands of military service. Organizational social media accounts are often reviewed by military community members when they are evaluating new brands or companies. Today’s consumers may trust user-generated social media content more than brand-generated content. In many ways, social media has emerged as the digitized version of “word of mouth” marketing. As a result, military community members are more likely to patronize organizations their peers recommend, both in-person and on social media.
Organizations whose target audience includes military community members should consider ways to develop a military-friendly social media strategy. This type of social media strategy evaluates social media platform options, target audiences, and ensures all content is military-informed.
Here are a few tips for developing a military-friendly social media strategy for your organization:
Social media content should reflect the increasing diversity of the modern military community.
Military and veteran family members should be included in organizational outreach, as these community members are often very influential in consumer decisions.
Military-affiliated holidays and observances should be honored online in an informed and respectful manner.
Given the high rate of disability among today’s veteran population, Section 508 accessibility practices should be included in social media content.
Military and veteran caregivers should be part of the strategy’s target audience and social media content should be developed that engages them.
The modern military community includes multiple generations - Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials, and Gen Zers; thus, a successful social media strategy will be multigenerational and include multiple social media platforms.
For more information on developing a military-friendly social media strategy, check out Developing a Military-Friendly Communications Strategy.
Social media's role in the modern military community is expected to change over time.
As the generational cohorts of recruits shift from Millennials to Generation Z (Gen Z), social media's role in the U.S. military is expected to continue to evolve. Gen Zers are prolific users of social media; however, they utilize it differently than their Baby Boomer, Gen X, and Millennials predecessors. Popular social media platforms play a key role in effective recruiting strategies for Gen Zers. An example of how social media can be leveraged to recruit new service members is the U.S. Navy’s “Forged by the Sea” digital marketing campaign. The present-day “recruiting crisis” facing the DoD will only further necessitate the military community’s ability to utilize social media effectively and efficiently to reach Gen Zers.
However, social media usage by the military community isn’t all positive. Irresponsible social media usage can violate Operations Security (OPSEC), which presents a number of risks. Additionally, numerous concerns have been raised regarding how social media usage by service members reflects on the DoD and what regulations apply to service member conduct on social media. One of the most recent high-profile cases on social media conduct by senior military leaders investigated by the DoD was MG Patrick Donahoe - a U.S. Army general whose social media posts prompted an Inspector General investigation that halted his retirement for almost a year. This development prompted many questions within the military community regarding the role social media plays in the military community and the present status of policies and regulations related to digital communications.
The modern military is expected to continue using social media at very high rates. For many military community members and leaders, the potential benefits of this type of online network and information access outweigh the risks. Responsible usage of social media is encouraged across the branches, and it is likely that regulations and policies related to social media will continue to update. At Becker Digital, we have developed military-specific social media training to increase awareness regarding best practices and strengthen digital literacy skills needed to succeed in the ever-evolving cyber domain.
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