An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir September 2015 www.dfmagazine.ie 12 | DF Lead the Way in Social Media by BRIAN HAyES MEP T he Defence Forces have a proud tradition of enter- ing and winning competitions. Whether it is box- ing, athletics, team sports, equestrian or military competitions, the trophy cabinets have been filled year-in year-out. Now, social media has brought more awards to our military with the Defence Forces winning the bórd Gáis Social Media Award three times in the last five years: 2011, 2013 and 2014. While this new online landscape poses challenges for the corporate, media, sports and political spheres, the Defence Forces are leaders in the field and provide lessons for the wider civilian society. Social media is becoming an increasing provider of news in Ireland. Research by the DCU's Institute of Future Media and Jour- nalism revealed that 52% of the population use smart phones to access news content weekly. News consumption is high in Ireland across all demographics, with 86% of people accessing some news every day. Digital migra- tion is significant, with 41% of respondents stating that online is their main source of news. However, at 58% traditional news sources remain important and TV (37%) is the biggest player. Radio has 14% and Print 7%, meaning online is the biggest single provider of news. Social media is now seen as being more important than print news, particularly with the under-35s. This has major implica- tions for the Defence Forces from a recruitment point of view. Given the decades it took for radio to supplant newspapers and for TV to replace radio, the growth of online news and social media is remarkably quick. We can be proud that our Defence Forces have kept pace. It is important that the civilian community is aware and recognises the work of the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps. The DFTC, the Air Corps and the Naval Service's Facebook pages have over 30,000 'Likes' between them, while the Irish Defence Forces Facebook page has over 70,000 and the Recruitment page has 44,500. We must also remember that several multiples of these numbers actually see the information as users 'Like', 'Share' and 'Comment' on the pages, thereby highlighting them to their Facebook friends. To put this into context it is worth noting that Leinster and Irish rugby star Jamie Heaslip (son of Col Richard Heaslip retd) has 56,000 followers on his Face- book page, and Jamie is a very active and competent social media user. I believe that the innovative and informative approach taken by our mili- tary to social media is one that other sectors of Irish society can learn from. Take for instance the recent Fathers' Day campaign on June 21st in which 19 pictures with Father's Day messages were posted. The messages were from different ranks and showed the diverse make-up of our servicemen and women. The images and text came from as far away as the Golan Heights, Kosovo and Afghanistan. There was a combined reach of 594,904 for June 21st and the page gained over 120 new followers on Facebook that day. (To put that reach in perspective the Irish Independent has average daily sales of 112,502 and the Sunday Independent sells approximately 219,007 copies.) The campaign showed a different side to the Defence Forces and displayed military personnel as fathers, sons, daughters and grandchildren. It reminded families celebrating their own fathers at home about the commitment and sacrifice made by those who embrace the challenges of military life, highlighting the many fam- ily occasions personnel miss due to their duties. This is a perfect example of best practice in social media. With- out requiring a press release or a photocall, the 19 posts conveyed strong messages to the viewer. Key to this was the participation of rank and file members of the military. Their pictures and messages really engaged the audience in the individual story behind each uniform. This has been key to the success of the military's social media strategy. We are told that in social media content is king. By involving members and post- ing their photos and stories the Defence Forces' social media intrigues and captures the imagination. In recent times the images on the mili- tary's social media of LÉ Eithne's crew carrying out their humanitarian mission in the Mediterranean have brought home the incredible work they are involved in. As commuters flick through their smartphones or parents pick up a tablet after putting the children to bed, they can get to see life through the eyes of our frontline servicemen and women.

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