Throughout this entire semester, we have discussed social media’s widespread impact on modern society. Particularly, through the use of social media on mobile devices, people can instantly consume any information being produced by just about anyone. This spit-second inheritance of information is especially important when it comes to national or global news. The interesting thing is that users can read news on social media sites such as twitter, through random third-party sources. So, instead of receiving breaking news from a mainstream media source, people can see what is happening by reading a friends tweet or Instagram/Facebook post. The evolution in the way we consume news has had such a large impact on our society, but it has also quietly impacted another group of people in a major way.
Modern terroristic groups have used propaganda as the main source of recruitment of new members. With the development of mobile devices and social networking sites, terroristic groups have effectively increased the impact and visibility of such propaganda. Instead of terror groups such as ISIS and Al Qaeda strictly recruiting members within their own region, they can now reach a world audience through forums on Facebook as well as the use of hashtags on Twitter. In a broad sense, instead of recruiting from thousands of people, they are now able to recruit from millions of people increasing the numbers and likelihood of people joining their so called “causes”. Accordingly, the people who manage the social networking sites for these terror groups are able to communicate in many different languages, making recruitment in foreign countries much easier.
There have been efforts to stop these terrorist groups by social media sites simply by shutting down their accounts. However, in mere moments these terrorist groups have a new account and continue their recruitment without skipping much of a beat. An example of elusiveness by terrorist groups is the use of popular, well-circulated hashtags. According to SiteProNews, ISIS used the hashtag #WorldCup2014 during the world cup to almost discretely continue their recruitment, without being noticed by any social media sites or government agencies. This is a danger concept given that hundreds of new hashtags start trending each and every day. Terroristic groups such as ISIS use many different recruiting tactics online. However, some of the most common forms of their recruitment include discrediting governments like the United States to gain sympathy from people.
Whether it be through Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube, terror groups tend to show videos that cause great emotion in people. Often, they post videos that show suffering of people who have been injured through gunfire or some other sort of explosive or weaponry. Terror organizations like to portray anyone that is against them as the enemies through videos and photos of awful things certain governments have apparently done to them. They even use social media sites to post videos and photos of beheadings and the killing of people they
deem to be dangerous to their “cause”. Again, ISIS used another hashtag, this one by the moniker #StevensHeadInObamasHead. This particular hashtag refereed to the beheading of an American journalist Steven Sotloff who had been captured by ISIS. This use of social media is called fear-mongering, where they strike fear into the eyes of their enemies and targets by posting horrific media portraying violence. Believe it or not, this is also a form of recruitment for them, as it shows their actions, power and demeanor. This is especially useful towards those who are naturally inclined to violence. Perhaps the most frightening thought of all of this is that these terrorist organizations can then teach those that they have recruited, all through a laptop or mobile device. They can teach the how to pledge allegiance to their group, how to make bombs and other various weapons, how to make bullets for said weapons, as well as how to carry out attacks on the public. All of this can be taught from one person sitting all the way on the other side of the globe, to hundreds of thousands of people all over the globe. So, the point is that although everything seems ok, it won’t be for long. Now I am not trying to scare people, but it is important to realize the magnitude of this global issue our world faces.
As I wrap up this quick blog, I want people to understand that there are evil people in this world. However, good always outweighs evil and there is far more good in this world than there is evil, all it takes is the right people and the right mindset to rid our world of such evil people.
Sources
http://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-isis-uses-social-media-to-their-advantage
http://www.sitepronews.com/2014/09/22/social-media-used-terrorism/