| Social media has become a central part of American culture. Americans of all demographics are spending more time on social media than ever before. If the trend continues, social media use will continue to increase (Pew Internet Research Project, 2014). This project examined the use to determine what the relationship is between social media use and national security. This research focused on how effective social media is at delivering information, if social media causes hysteria, if social media can be used to organize groups into action, how social media is used in terrorist radicalization, how social media is used as an investigative tool and lastly, the effects of censoring social media. The results of this project proved there is significant work to be done in understanding the relationship between social media and national security. While social media was found to be an effective way to deliver information to large numbers of people, particularly in the event of a crisis, it is unclear whether it is a reliable source for factual information. Social media was found to be an effective mechanism for uniting groups of people for a common cause in spite of physical distance. This was found to be true for a variety of causes; legal and illegal. It was found that law enforcement has worked to develop innovative ways to use social media in public engagement that facilitates solving crimes. Lastly, it was found that some Western cultures have begun censoring social media in the interest of national security. This model was examined for the U.S., but due to the political culture it would appear any such change would be unlikely. Some variation of censorship on social media in times of crisis should be explored in the interest of national security.;Keywords: Cybersecurity, Intelligence, Paul Pantani, national security, social media, emergency response. |
