The Fate of Milblogs
A decade ago, before the all-encompassing online phenomena of Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, Twitter and, to a lesser extent, Pinterest, blogging was THE online social communication platform.
Although sites such as Myspace, Friends Reunited and Bebo would launch the powerful aspects relating to social media connectivity, blogging had become a thriving way to connect with people, and a flourishing means to have your voice heard successfully.
This meant something to marginalized members of society who felt that their voice would be constantly drowned out.
Disenfranchised people, who genuinely thought that their views and opinions had been forgotten, could now be heard by readers all over the world.
After the tragedy of 9/11, the American people were called to arms, and there was a unified sense of patriotism throughout the country.
Bubbling below this was a palpable undercurrent of patriotic Americans who were left uneasy about the threat of impending war, death and violence, and blogging became a systematic way of venting frequent frustrations in public.
The concept of viva voce had ballooned exponentially.
Instant feedback.
'I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.
' - Capt.
Nathan Hale The medium of blogging helped those who wanted to swim against a tide of both government enmity and social apathy.
It chiefly aided the enormous amounts of servicemen readying themselves for war, conveying both their hopes and fears for the future.
Utilizing the anonymity that the internet allows, military-themed blog posts sprouted up by the platoon-full, coining the term 'milblogging' in the process.
Nameless strangers dispatched to Iraq and Afghanistan were suddenly bestowed with the resources to let their ready-built audience understand their dissatisfaction, worries and reservations, with rapid responses.
Reactions were instant.
A soldier named Jean-Paul Borda even created Milblogging.
com (currently owned by Military.
com), an index aggregator that, at the time of writing, has over 3,500 milblogs archived, with over 21,100 members.
The majority of milblogs were written by unidentified soldiers expelling their vitriolic bile at The System, criticizing the stressful times of crisis and wishing to return home.
The Pentagon aggressively attempted to control, manage, editorialize or, inevitably, shut down those blogs deemed disloyal, insubordinate or traitorous.
In 2007, milblogging reached its pinnacle, with President Bush inviting a group of milbloggers to the White House (to the chagrin of many mainstream reporters).
It is very different today.
'There is a time to take counsel of your fears, and there is a time to never listen to any fear.
' - George S.
Patton These days, with thousands of soldiers returning home and trying to weather the difficulties of readjusting to family life, the initial conditions surrounding of milblogs has noticeably changed.
The wars are over, and gone are the lively, subversive and underground-esque posts about chaotic combat situations, replaced by those about the normality of domestic life.
Any somewhat unsubtle indication of non-conformist independence - or even revolutionary impudence - has been diluted and mainstream-ified.
The establishment has piggybacked onto social media trends, and those who were originally charged with closing down blogs now actively encourage them.
At last year's Sixth Annual Milblog Conference, Donald Rumsfeld sounded more positive than cynical about milblogging, saying "I can say I appreciate what you do, but I'm not sure I understand it.
" The concept of milblogging has turned more towards political opinion pieces and analysis, as well as giving advice to other servicemen in the same position.
'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
' - Prime Minister Winston Churchill The major area of expansion in the milblog industry are those authored by military spouses, with new ones emerging every week and attempting to assist couples having trouble reconnecting after considerable time apart.
Twitter accounts are also commonplace, and Facebook fanpages are run-of-the-mill occurrences.
Although sites such as Myspace, Friends Reunited and Bebo would launch the powerful aspects relating to social media connectivity, blogging had become a thriving way to connect with people, and a flourishing means to have your voice heard successfully.
This meant something to marginalized members of society who felt that their voice would be constantly drowned out.
Disenfranchised people, who genuinely thought that their views and opinions had been forgotten, could now be heard by readers all over the world.
After the tragedy of 9/11, the American people were called to arms, and there was a unified sense of patriotism throughout the country.
Bubbling below this was a palpable undercurrent of patriotic Americans who were left uneasy about the threat of impending war, death and violence, and blogging became a systematic way of venting frequent frustrations in public.
The concept of viva voce had ballooned exponentially.
Instant feedback.
'I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.
' - Capt.
Nathan Hale The medium of blogging helped those who wanted to swim against a tide of both government enmity and social apathy.
It chiefly aided the enormous amounts of servicemen readying themselves for war, conveying both their hopes and fears for the future.
Utilizing the anonymity that the internet allows, military-themed blog posts sprouted up by the platoon-full, coining the term 'milblogging' in the process.
Nameless strangers dispatched to Iraq and Afghanistan were suddenly bestowed with the resources to let their ready-built audience understand their dissatisfaction, worries and reservations, with rapid responses.
Reactions were instant.
A soldier named Jean-Paul Borda even created Milblogging.
com (currently owned by Military.
com), an index aggregator that, at the time of writing, has over 3,500 milblogs archived, with over 21,100 members.
The majority of milblogs were written by unidentified soldiers expelling their vitriolic bile at The System, criticizing the stressful times of crisis and wishing to return home.
The Pentagon aggressively attempted to control, manage, editorialize or, inevitably, shut down those blogs deemed disloyal, insubordinate or traitorous.
In 2007, milblogging reached its pinnacle, with President Bush inviting a group of milbloggers to the White House (to the chagrin of many mainstream reporters).
It is very different today.
'There is a time to take counsel of your fears, and there is a time to never listen to any fear.
' - George S.
Patton These days, with thousands of soldiers returning home and trying to weather the difficulties of readjusting to family life, the initial conditions surrounding of milblogs has noticeably changed.
The wars are over, and gone are the lively, subversive and underground-esque posts about chaotic combat situations, replaced by those about the normality of domestic life.
Any somewhat unsubtle indication of non-conformist independence - or even revolutionary impudence - has been diluted and mainstream-ified.
The establishment has piggybacked onto social media trends, and those who were originally charged with closing down blogs now actively encourage them.
At last year's Sixth Annual Milblog Conference, Donald Rumsfeld sounded more positive than cynical about milblogging, saying "I can say I appreciate what you do, but I'm not sure I understand it.
" The concept of milblogging has turned more towards political opinion pieces and analysis, as well as giving advice to other servicemen in the same position.
'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
' - Prime Minister Winston Churchill The major area of expansion in the milblog industry are those authored by military spouses, with new ones emerging every week and attempting to assist couples having trouble reconnecting after considerable time apart.
Twitter accounts are also commonplace, and Facebook fanpages are run-of-the-mill occurrences.