Defense Department Initiative Seeks to Analyze Social Media Patterns

[cory777]

Source: Techland

It's no stretch to imagine that cyberspace will likely serve as another front in the wars of the future. But now, the Pentagon is reportedly kicking things into high gear with a new initiative which sets to track intel across social media. The program could cost up to $42 million and is currently soliciting research proposals.

The new Social Media in Strategic Communication (SMISC) program was submitted under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an arm of the Department of Defense. The goal is to "develop a new science of social networks built on an emerging technology base" to help the agency keep abreast with communication technologies, namely Twitter.

The program's plan is fourfold:

1. Detect, classify, measure and track the (a) formation, development and spread of ideas and concepts (memes), and
(b) purposeful or deceptive messaging and misinformation.
2. Recognize persuasion campaign structures and influence operations across social mediasites and communities.
3. Identify participants and intent, and measure effects of persuasion campaigns.
4. Counter messaging of detected adversary influence operations.

It makes sense: Twitter's gotten a lot of shine as a tool for mass mobilization, none more famous than during the Arab Spring. With over 200 million tweets being sent per day, Twitter has become an unprecedented medium for the mass transmission of information, and the Library of Congress is already archiving every tweet sent.




Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/08/02/defense-department-initiative-seeks-to-analyze-social-media-patterns/#0_undefined,0_

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Breaking Activist News http://activistnews.blogspot.com/

[Enrique]

1. is this "Total information awareness" risen from the grave?

or did that never die in the first place. I forget...

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Defense against ourselves.

:think:


Think Goddamnit!

[DJ13]

3. So thats why the DHS has all those empty camps set up

:silly:

[katty]

4. TSA, DHS, CIA, DOD,Teabaggers: The People should be

observing "THEM" and their whacked out offshoots.

[GillesDeleuze]

5. CIA created Facebook.. im sure they can hand over the data.

have fun with that, social media users.

[fascisthunter]

6. ...and the potential slide into a Fascist Police State continues

[itsnotaboutu]

7. NO

There should be no money for these frivolous expenditures by the military.
If we can't afford the entitlements we can't afford this. :nopity:

[MessiahRp]

8. More reasons to defund the Pentagon at a massive rate: to kill bullshit like this.

[avaistheone1]

9. The spooks at the Defense Department are completely out of control.