ABSTRACT
The United States, Israel, Australia, France, Germany and many other Western militaries maintain an online presence across various digital social media platforms, as do the armed forces of non-Western states such as Pakistan, India, Russia and China. The military use of digital social media is thus a relatively widespread phenomenon. This chapter explains why it matters for global politics. The discipline of International Relations (IR) gives little thought to how digital social media is an impact on the subject matter of the field. In contrast, militaries have relatively quickly to recognise the importance of using these technologies. The chapter argues that the military use of social media is important for several reasons. The chapter begins with an exploration of literature on mediatised war that recognises that media representations are now a fundamental aspect of contemporary war. James Der Derian is perhaps the most prominent author writing on the intersections of war, media and technology.
