As you guys know, I am always looking into the future of warfare, and the possible uses of today’s technologies. No rock is left unturned here, and I love coming back to this stuff. The theme of this post is that in order to apply these new Web 2.0 tools to warfare and business, we must study how others did it and build a snowmobile out of it.
Now on to the meat of what I am getting at. If you are a PMC, or even trying to start a grass roots cyber tribe revolution, then you need to study what Niv Calderon and his gang did during the last Israeli war in Gaza. They were on the cutting edge of mixing Web 2.0 and their war effort, and the outcomes of that effort should be studied by all who are interested. I know I am, and articles in the past on FJ, in regards to Web 2.0 and warfare, have been influence by these types of uses.
Last week I made a comment on Steven Pressfield’s blog about the concept of starting a cyber tribe, to support the various tribes in the war that he thought would be helpful in winning the war in Afghanistan. I discussed the concept of starting a social networking site that had the similar framework as President Obama’s social networking site, or even American Sniper’s website. The idea is to have sites that tap into the legions of supporters, possible supporters, and diaspora throughout the world, all with the goal of cheering on and supplying a tribe on the ground with what it needs to defeat a shared enemy.
I would say that this ‘cyber tribe’ concept, is a way for chieftains to expand their immediate tribes, and really call on all of the supporters throughout the world for help and for supplies. It is a way to get the middle man out of the way (aid groups and government), and connect the supporters with the tribe directly. The cyber tribes would have little donation buttons on the site, give calls of action, allow for personal pages, foster a community, set up encrypted email, and post Youtube videos of ambushing and killing the Taliban, all with the idea of bringing the cyber tribe together with the local tribe on the ground.
Most of all, if the cyber tribe was able to make some money for the cause (google adsense, ad sales, e-books, donations), then the real tribe could conceivably ask for volunteers and pay them at cost for their services– and all through a cyber tribe system. Call it a Cyber Tribe Co-op. lol
Hell, make it a non-profit so people can donate to the cause and benefit in their taxes (in the US at least). Or not, and this would be the choice of the tribe to decide upon. I say non-profit, because if NGO’s can call themselves a non-profit, a cyber tribe can call themselves a non-profit too, just as long as the aid given by the cyber tribes is not a profit game, but purely a supply and demand game. (Jake had an awesome post about the non-profit PSC, for further exploration)
With a Cyber Tribe Co-op, the chieftain could put out to the two tribes (cyber and local) what would be a good use of the money earned on the site? (Just an idea) With a well structured social networking site and a truly democratic bunch of supporters, the crowd will decide how much they want to give to something like that, or how much they want to throw down for a contracted specialist.
They could even put it out there for true volunteers. You know, guys that actually want to go up in the hills and fight with their tribal brothers for free, all because they believe in the cause of their tribe. I know Soldier of Fortune is filled with stories of guys going out to volunteer their time in war zones, all for the sake of assisting underfunded and undertrained groups. That and to do a story about it afterwards, so they have material for the magazine. I even remember SoF sending guys out to assist the Mujahideen during the Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan, and there were tons of these types of stories. Cyber tribe reporters could be doing the same thing as SoF did, but for adding content to the cyber tribe’s website, thus increasing the SEO of the site, and then getting more traffic because of it!
So that is all I have on this one, and I look forward to any replies on this. I also suggest starting a cyber tribe if you think you can do it, and put some action to an idea out there. There is no rule that you can only have one cyber tribe per local tribe. You could have thousands of cyber tribes supporting one tribe. Or maybe Steven will put something together, because I know he is really stoked on anything to do with tribes. –Matt
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Social media warriors at work in the war room for pro-Israel “Stand With Us”
How Social Media War Was Waged in Gaza-Israel Conflict
by Jaron Gilinsky
February 13, 2009
Both sides deployed dangerous new media weapons during this latest round of fighting in Gaza. Armed with Facebook profiles, Twitter accounts, and Lavazza espresso, warriors fearlessly and tirelessly scoured the cyber battlefield searching for enemy (blog) outposts. Outfitted with high-tech ammunition like HD videocameras, firewire 800s, and white phosphorescent keyboards, they attacked one-sided videos, slanted essays, and enemy propaganda with propaganda of their own. Instead of grad rockets, they launched grad school wits. Instead of anti-tank missiles, they battled with anti-spamming technology. In 22 days of combat in Gaza, these were the young fighters tasked with winning the merciless war of public opinion for their side.
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