The Pen, the Sword and Social Media – OR – The Social Biosphere, the Next Global Battle Field

The Social Biosphere is where the next World War will be fought and won. The only question is what type of organization is most committed and capable of winning within this new and daunting digital operating environment.

Imagine a world where Citibank and Goldman Sachs are victorious in the Social Biosphere wars and think just how absolutely horrible all our lives will become. But fortunately, as imperfect as our US Government may be, I prefer the prospect of a continued future as Citizen of the United States of America verses the Republic of Greed offered by Citibank, Goldman Sachs and other corporations of their ilk.

The Axis of Greed may have tons of money, literally they have tons of money, but it’s our money and we have, the US Military and our Special Forces Community of Operators. I know you’re thinking wait-a-minute, the military, our military to fight Goldman Sachs, Citibank and the rest of the Axis of Greed, it sounds a bit far-fetched. Maybe not.

The old quote made popular in Operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm and more recently in Operation Iraqi Freedom, “Capture their minds and their hearts and souls will follow,” is neither so old nor benign as the endless media repetition might lead us believe.

It most likely comes from a man named, Major Ed Rouse (US Army Ret) and one of the founding fathers of modern psychological warfare.  Major Rouse is considered an expert source by nearly every media outlet on the planet on exactly how to get inside our “enemies’’ heads and have our way with them. 

The long tradition of PSYOPS as a combat weapon predates Major Rouse, the USA and modern warfare. From Alexander the Great leaving armor on the battlefield designed for 8 foot men to intimidate enemies and Sun Tsu’s instructions to generals on how to make an enemy surrender to the perception or greater force through the Nazi’s use of Mildred Gillars, better know as Axis Sally, and Japan’s use of the better remembered Tokyo Rose, pictured below. PSYOPS has a long tradition in combat operations that transcends epochs, eras and cultures.  As a tactic it has always worked and will always work as it plays to the most basic instincts we have as human beings.

During the Gulf War and the Iraqi War the idea of capturing the hearts and minds of the civilian populations was generally presented as a positive thing as the media hammered us with repeated images of friendly soldiers handing rations to children.

Nothing could be further from the truth or from the real mission of Psychological Warfare Operations. Make no mistake, PSYOPS in the US fall under the US Army Special Operations Command, better known to most of us as Special Forces including such legendary outfits as, Army Delta and others.  PSYOPS is a Special Operations unit, with a serious offensive, ass-kicking mandate. 

So sheds a different light on “winning the hearts and minds,” more like capturing and reprogramming those enemy hearts and minds.  There are no Geneva Conventions rules governing what we can or cannot say to enemy combatants and civilians.

In fact and let’s be honest there are no boarders to cross, nor transmitters to be commandeered or jammed – there simply are endless opportunities to reach out via social channels to citizens of the world.  It’s no longer necessary or even desirable to identify an enemy because socialized operations cause no damage – they merely capture and control minds and ultimately build our brand AKA culture.

In a recent article I sketched some very broad strokes of the history of this profession of ours and left an open end as we enter the Social Biosphere era. It’s still too early to tell how things will play out within this socialized environment. 

It is however, safe to assume that like the communications and business revolution enabled by the adoption of Web-based technologies, Social Media will give way to the Social Biosphere, an environment affecting everything it touches be it organic life, business process or political and cultural systems.  The socialized Web is and will continue to change everything in its path.

So sets the stage for modern PSYOP Warfare within the Social Biosphere.  I cannot think of an operating environment more conducive to capturing and conquering, particularly the civilian populations of not only our enemies but any country or culture in danger of falling to the Axis of Greed,  whose aims are clearly not friendly or beneficial to the United States.

The beauty of the Social Biosphere as a social warfare operational environment mirrors the myriad advantages communicators have long known exist with social media. But the real significance is the added and incalculable value of being an un-policed, lawless free-for-all environment easily dominated by the organization committing the most resources to the campaign.  It’s also what makes us and the world most vulnerable to the Axis of Greed.

In short the Social Biosphere is the new global battlefield and the organization first in and most committed will capture, conquer and control the minds and hearts of World’s populations.  Here’s hoping it’s a mostly friendly power.

Extending A Social Mindset Throughout Your Organization -- OR -- Does This Count as Social Media?

The short answer is; YES!  

And your BIG PR AGENCY and high-priced in-house counsel probably missed the opportunity.

Don’t be overly harsh with them, they’re trained to think in traditional and linear media models and modalities. But, make no mistake they are generally VERY good at performing within these traditional modalities.

Of course the problem is, we live in a very different and new business reality which even the largest PR agencies struggle to comprehend.  We're living and communicating in a true social biosphere now. Real people, real conversations in real time; that’s a social biosphere, and believe me it scares the crap out of your PR agency and in-house PR managers.

Not to worry, no one abandoned the mailed press release overnight either, or the press release itself for that matter. There’s help out there, consultants like Outlaw Communications but more importantly look within your own organization as the following story illustrates.

In the social biosphere that is business today everything your organization does and says or is thought to have done or said or is perceived to have done or said along with anything anyone remotely connected to your organization has ever done or said, will count with someone somewhere.

I’m exaggerating but only slightly to illustrate how important the seemingly most insignificant encounters can be to your organization’s social wellbeing.

I recently met with some folks from AFLAC in a mismanaged recruiting SNAFU gone horribly wrong, perpetrated by an outside consultant.  Ah, those horrible consultants, we’re always mucking up someone’s business. In this case it turns out to be true, well almost were it not for a socially tuned-in AFLAC recruiter who found and capitalized upon a social opportunity despite it being WAVED (Yes WAVED) in front of senior PR staffers.

At any rate after what rapidly descended into an experience worthy of Twitter Tattling, this single dedicated AFLAC representative took it upon herself to not only fix a situation but turn it into a social media opportunity for her company.

The traditional PR machine failed here and did not realize the potential social impact as an influencer began showing negative signs within AFLAC’s social biosphere.

Another company representative, responsible mostly for recruiting, (how social is the recruiting function nowadays?), managed to recognize the potential damage already begun within AFLAC’s social biosphere and took immediate and successful steps to change the interaction.

A socially healthy organization is much like any other healthy animal, the social mindset must be pervasive and inclusive, not because this is the future I see, it is but, because it is and will be and also happens to be the future I see and BIG PR continues to miss and ignore.

And if the fact that your traditional PR Agencies and in-house counsel, for which you spend tens of thousands of dollars monthly, is in complete denial about the social biosphere, doesn’t keep management up at night… you need to find other work for the sake of your shareholders and stakeholders.