When to Hit the ‘Reply’ Button? Ask the Air Force

By Eric Etheridge

Life online can be hard. Do you engage with trolls, or just let them pass? Is the poster you might respond to a rager or just an unhappy customer? Worry no more about these tricky decisions. Now you can rely on the Air Force’s Web Posting Response Assessment, which, just like the Internet, is in version 2.0.

Air Force's Web Posting Response Assessment(Air Force Public Affairs Agency)

The flow-chart above was produced by “the emerging technology division of the Air Force’s public affairs arm,” according to Wired’s Danger Room blog, where this chart first appeared and which reports that the Air Force is somewhat behind the other services in dealing with the Internet but starting to catch up.

Capt. David Faggard, the “the Air Force Public Affairs Agency’s designated social media guru” who helped develop the chart, says he’s “trying to get people to understand that they can do this.” Yes, we can. And if you decide to reply, just remember to act transparently, disclose your connections, “cite your sources” and “take time to create good responses.” Roger that.

Comments are no longer being accepted.

Nobody January 8, 2009 · 4:54 pm

But the Air Force Public Affairs Agency is well-known for its efforts to destabilize the Internet through misinformation and what it calls “e-napalm”. 😉

Does Joe the Plumber have a flow chart for his big adventure? January 8, 2009 · 5:39 pm

~~
So let’s see the flow chart the NYTimes provided you with.

Aaron January 8, 2009 · 7:46 pm

I was a pilot in the Air Force for 10 years and they use these same charts for aircraft commanders when needing to make “tough” decisions on filing flight plans to different places or whether to take off. It’s such a typical military thing – remove all of the thinking from any decision, that way if you actually stray from using the chart (and use your BRAIN on your own) you can get busted for it.

EJ January 9, 2009 · 5:43 am

At first this looks stupid & useless. But it’s actually common sense and the advice is good. And since not everybody has common sense (to put it kindly), this kind of thing may in fact be very necessary.

Carl Wallander January 9, 2009 · 9:52 am

I like it. Of course one can always easily bash the military for its linear and compartmented ways of doing things, but, let’s face it, they are not in the business of creating poetry; their job, basically, is the completion of tasks which no one else wants to take on. Think of all the time we waste reading through idiotic posts on the internet just to get to the few thoughtful and well constructed submissions. I say ‘Bravo’ to the Air Force for their attempt to get through the junk and respond to the gems. Woulds’t more people did this!

TankerKC January 9, 2009 · 10:42 am

Aaron…I doubt that you were a USAF pilot for 10 years. You may have been scrambling eggs in the DFAC. There is no checklist for “whether to take off.” Training, experience, and Airmanship drive most decisions.

JackCB January 9, 2009 · 11:10 am

I do wonder why they’re watching the web and who’s actually doing the surfing. Not to mention how much this is costing us. More interesting is the sound advice to not respond directly to trolls and ragers. Which raises the question of what constitues “monitoring the site”. Do they keep a list, or open a file? Once they are notified, what are HQ’s intentions for trolls and ragers. Shades of big brother?

At least it doesn’t insist on or provide canned responses, e.g. “the bug letter”.

AlibiFarmer January 9, 2009 · 11:22 am

The goal of any management is to get to the correct decision. Where it can be put into a process, it’s only smart to do so. If this helps people decide correctly, it’s a bit of overkill, but useful.

Wilma V Ranger January 9, 2009 · 6:05 pm

This is something I have not heard about?
I though that they were all a great bunch of
men & women. After 25 years of being one of
them–what was going on.
Hope things will square around.

DrBB January 9, 2009 · 9:55 pm

BIg institution acting big-institutionally. Gotta have a rule set for everything. It’s not a guide to positive action so much as a framework for allocating blame and punishment in the case of a blow up.