Benefits of Social Media on Army Recruitment
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Social media has gained professional use in the past few years including among the United States Army. The department of defense of the United State is the largest employer in the nation consisting of over a million men and women actively serving with the support of thousands of civilian employees. The high number of employees means that the department is always in need of employees in large numbers to replace the lot that retires or deployed to other functions. Most of the recruitment is done on young people since the expectation is that they will serve in the army to retirement. Social media policies regarding the privacy of information and nature of content shared should be highly observed to avoid damage of personal or organizational reputation (Department of Human Services, 2012).
Today, many young people have social media accounts and it is on these platforms that they communicate and network including looking for job opportunities. The DoD has identified the need to make use of social media platform to advertise for job opportunities, conduct official communications, and to carry out recruitment on platforms such a Facebook and Twitter.
Using special units within the military to engage the potential recruits’ population on social media will have the DoD money and time that could have been used in advertising and recruiting. Making use of mainstream media to advertise for a range of vacant job opportunities within the military can be quite expensive. Secondly, the target recruits may not have time to watch the news or to read a newspaper since but will more likely be online on social networking sites. Social media has provided a platform that is less costly by using ads to drive traffic to the advertising website (SEOServicesAZ, 2010). Therefore, the military saves a lot of money by paying for ads whereby one ad will draw endless of young enthusiastic traffic to the DoD website where the job vacancies are.
Social media advertising combines with blog posts fully describing the job requirements will enable the potential applicants to understand deeply what is required of them in terms of skills, duties, and the level of commitment needed. Having a detailed job description helps to filter applicants hence leading to the DoD receiving improved quality of applicants. The aesthetic appeal of the advertisement matters a lot when it comes to social media advertising. The department of defense must be able to communicate the available job opportunities through a unique style and well-arranged content in order to draw the attention of the potential applicants (Griffin, 2012).
Social Media is a good platform for the military to communicate with families and peers which has enhanced safety. One can notice suicidal tendencies through social media posting which will prompt for immediate preventive action hence saving lives. It would be tedious to go to seek professional help physically but the active-duty members can use the online platforms to share information resources with self-help materials to online individuals that show suicidal tendencies as well, as other mental health problems. In many cases, when someone joins the military, they rarely communicate with their family members and will be less aware of their needs. Through sharing emotions and feelings instances such as suicide are easily prevented. The military is there to serve the community in all aspects and therefore being active on social media has helped the DoD to be aware of and manage social problems.
Platforms such as YouTube provide training to the potential and already existing military personnel’s through reading materials, lectures, and practical’s. Candidates that have been approved and awaiting training can share and communicate with each other on the platforms which help to increase familiarity and the spirit of togetherness even before their training starts.
References
Department of Human Services Social Media Policy [Video file]. (2012). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqdV0_JpsnM&feature=youtu.be
Griffin, E. A. (2012). AFL: Resources by Theory (10th Edition). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.afirstlook.com/edition-10/theory-resources/by-theory/Uses-and- Gratifications
SEOServicesAZ. (2010). Advantages of Social Media Marketing [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PocpFTZmHg4&feature=youtu.be
