Military Intelligence Goes 2.0

It seems almost comical that the United States military is using Web 2.0 features, most of the people we consider prevalent users of blogs, wikis, and RSS feeds are young adults sitting at coffee shops or book stores working on projects and checking out their friend’s newest post. But yes, believe it, the military is employing Web 2.0’s social networking platforms to increase efficiency when it comes to the distribution and analysis of intelligence. Military personnel use wikis, blogs, and RSS feeds though secure government sites to send, review, analyze, and/or collaborate about important information at a much faster rate than email or regular html sites. I personally find this revelation a little strange (top secret information being posted on blogs???), but I think it is a great use of technology. Many of us find it more efficient to communicate and receive information through the social tools offered by Web 2.0, so it only seems logical that the same would hold true when it comes to military employees sending and receiving intel. The biggest concern I have with this approach is security. I understand that you can’t get much more secure when it comes to working on Federal Government servers, but imagine the devastating consequences if there were a breach. Much information on the network would be compromised since it is so easily accessible, or at least more so than if intelligence were being communicated through something other than Web 2.0 technology. Despite this concern, the pros of using the Web 2.0 features far outweigh the cons because a military that can communicate accurate information in a faster, more timely manner is a much more effective.