Social Media… you’re doing it wrong.
 Sorry #NotSorry for the #Clickbait title. I felt like it was appropriate for the topic. I’ve wanted to write this post for a long time. Thank you to the JOF team for giving me the incentive to stop procrastinating. 
 If you haven’t heard, social media is a thing. We can ignore entirely the debate around your personal social media presence as a leader. Professionalism. Operational security. Yup, all of that, it’s a concern. Let’s focus on your organization’s social media presence. You need one. These ideas apply whether it’s for a social media presence for a Battalion or a Platoon. Social media is an effective tool for communicating with your Soldiers, your Families, and even your Higher Headquarters. Here’s the good news, there are examples and SOPs to help guide you in this journey, whether it is creating an entirely new presence for your organization or taking over an existing account and bringing it up to standard.
 So, I’ll present you three simple steps to success and some pitfalls to avoid. 
 Pitfall #1: Not having an account. Whether you know it or not, your organization has a social media presence. Your Soldiers or a spouse has started one, if you have not. Establishing an “official account” is the best method to take control of communication and how your organization is represented online.
 Step #1: Create your account in accordance with the Army’s Social Media Guide. Posted below. This includes MAKING YOUR ACCOUNT OPEN. Bonus! This is a Step AND a Pitfall! I’ve watched many peers (and occasionally, Leaders) create “closed” accounts (typically over concerns about operational security and/or censorship). Here’s what you need to know, IT’S.EFFING.ILLEGAL. Courtesy the Freedom of Information Act and other legislation for transparency in federal government any official social presence must be a public account AND uncensored. See: Freedom of Expression. This is scary for the Leaders that want to be able to control the access and the content of their organization’s account. I empathize, but let me tell you a story. So, back in… maybe 2012? I started a Facebook account for my Company, and one morning I woke up to see a post from your standard internet troll. I can’t remember the exact criticism. The troll hated the Army or Air Assault or the War… something. The language was ugly. When I saw the post I wanted to censor it immediately, thankfully, issues of higher priority stole my attention until the end of the day. When I returned to the post that evening, I was astounded to see that my COMMUNITY had already responded. They had politely addressed the criticism and then moved on to new, more “on message” posts. It was awesome. Trust the open community.
 Pitfall #2: Trying to do it all. You don’t need to have an account on every social media platform. That is a bit too much to manage without a dedicated social media manager. Choose one or maximum two platforms, choose what to communicate through those platforms and focus on using them consistently and effectively. With over 2.23 billion active users globally, Facebook’s platform reach makes a strong argument for making Facebook one of your primary platforms. Instagram continues to show rapid growth, and the photo focus of the app makes the platform fast and easy for communicating updates to followers, plus Families LOVE photos. Snapchat and Twitter are options outside the Facebook ecosystem. Google+ has a platform specifically for small organizations. There are many options.
 Step #2: Determine a messaging strategy. What meets criteria for a post? How often do you want to post? Who do you want to allow to post? Just you? Your FRG representative? The 1SG? The training room NCO? This doesn’t need to become an extra policy letter, but it should be thought through and communicated with the members of your organization that are going to help you publish or capture content for your social media. 
 Step #3: Get consistent. With phone apps and high resolution cameras (even HD video) on our phones, it possible to make posts in near real-time. That’s a good technique for quick, short posts to keep your account “alive,” but I recommend including a thoughtfully constructed complete post once a week, or whatever you find sustainable. Build this as part of your battle rhythm, because your followers will look forward to these regular posts. 
 Okay! Good luck. 
Get out there and make your unit #instafamous!
 ~Jeff
BOLC Topic Lead