With the explosion of social media sites like USAWTFM, Terminal CWO, the Salty SPC, etc: Are they effective?

US Army WTF is doing a lot more than the IG ever did. Most of the high visibility issues the Army is currently dealing with were known about for years, but only dealt with as a result of social media exposure...

I must caveat that I am not on ANY of those sites. RP is literally my only social media. That being said, my personal opinion is that if leadership is needing to rely on these sites for "ground truth" with their Soldiers, then there is a lot more wrong with the situation than how they do or do not respond to those sites.

I went a bit longer with this one than I originally intended.

It's an interesting issue to explore. Military social media, whether Veteran or currently serving has become a playing field to vent about issues with the chain of command or about an installation; in addition to of course memes and a variety of other topics. It doesn't always provide help, but it does make many feel that they can lend a voice to an issue whether right or wrong.

So if we have, and I know in many cases we do, service members going to social media to vent their issues instead of their chain; the chain has already failed. We've already seen this with U.S. Army WTF Moments and a few other pages where issues become high profile whether it's the VA or an active post. We've seen senior leadership getting busted for committing crimes or being directly detrimental to the morale and welfare of those under their charge.

Do these pages have dirt bags, unnecessary or pointless complaints, general razzing, and unprofessionalism? Of course, but so does the motor pool on Monday. Are these sites going to solve problems? Maybe for an individual with Veteran fundraising and the like, but for the military as a whole I think the best they do is highlight issues that have been ignored or swept under the proverbial rug.

General Powell once said, "The day the Soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership."

Not every service member is going to go to their leadership about every little thing, sometimes they just want a community to vent with. That said, if it's a serious legitimate issue and they went to social media instead of the chain then a link in that chain failed somewhere. Some people may bristle at this but if this is the case then they don't view you as a leader they can come to, they view you as a bad joke with rank.

I think military social media pages and websites should be observed, and of course taken with a grain of salt. People in leadership positions should be asking if the things they're seeing on these pages are happening in their units or on their installation. They then have to ask themselves the hard question, are they part of the problem? What can they do to address issues in the ranks?

I'm just some guy on the low end of the pole here, so take my opinion and explanation with a grain of salt too; but also take a good hard look at the people around you. If you're in charge, are you doing what's best for them? Some of the best leaders I've had didn't always make me happy, sometimes they frustrated the hell out of me; but I knew they were there for me and they would fight for me if I needed it. I've also known people in charge that I wouldn't go to for a damn thing, I'd call Joe Snuffy before I ever called on them.