Social Media as a Force Multiplier:

This report examines how the Australian Army’s engagement with and use of social media compares to that of a selection of its allied and comparator militaries. It finds that, despite the welcome establishment of the Information Warfare Division (IWD) in July 2017, Army continues to trail its allies and is a long way behind best practice in its adoption of, adaptation to and use of social media as a capability in the contest for information advantage against its conventional competitors and non-state actors. It finds that Army’s cultural norms and organisational structures are ill-fitted to the architectures of participation that social media and the digital landscape rest on. Unless Army is willing and able to adapt its organisation, operations and practices to the flatter, networked systems of the digital environment, it will continue to underperform in the information domain.