That's been true for centuries, of course. But the public got a rude awakening this week about just how much those words can matter in the digital age when the Israel Defense Force live tweeted its strike that killed a Hamas leader.
The military's live spin about the strike, and Hamas' response on a separate Twitter feed, have been called an unprecedented use of social media. BuzzFeed wrote that it "may well be the most meaningful change in our consumption of war in over 20 years." It's raising questions about the ethics and implications of live-tweeting a violent conflict. And it's calling into question the democratic, everyone-has-a-voice nature of Twitter, which is known more for giving a voice to protesters and civilians than military spokespeople.
In this case, it seems to be giving a megaphone to the military.
"Armies and militaries and governments have done this kind of thing with radio broadcasts and whatever tools they have at their disposal," said Mathew Ingram, a senior writer for the tech site GigaOm. "What changes it is the reach and the speed" of the messages in the social media age. "Twitter and Facebook haven't reinvented communications, but they sure have changed it in some pretty important ways."
Amid fears the violence could escalate, Israel has reported three people killed and Hamas says 20 Palestinians are dead. At least 274 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel, according to the Israeli military. More than 140 strikes have hit Gaza, sources with Hamas say. Both sides say they were retaliating against the other's actions.
Tweets from the official @IDFSpokesperson account, which had about 100,000 followers on Thursday, announced an attack on Gaza and reported on its aftermath.
"The IDF has begun a widespread campaign on terror sites & operatives in the #Gaza Strip," the feed wrote on Wednesday, "chief among them #Hamas & Islamic Jihad targets."
By John D. Sutter, CNN, November, 2012
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