US military to use Youtube as recruitment tool

[Sulkdodds]

I'm not sure you'd be allowed to stop them.

I'm also not sure that's an apt comparison. War...office? Difference?

 

[repiV]

I'm not sure you'd be allowed to stop them.

I'm also not sure that's an apt comparison. War...office? Difference?

The censorship only applies to videos that are sent to the Army for posting...therefore it's an equal comparison.

No difference at all, the army is a hierarchial organisation which employs people on contracts just like any corporation. It also has a public image to protect, and in this case damage to the image can cause serious recruitment, political and national security issues.
Any organisation has a right to manage its public relations.

 

[CptStern]

The censorship only applies to videos that are sent to the Army for posting...therefore it's an equal comparison.

that's every video ..all videos are submitted by soldiers unless they're from the military itself

No difference at all, the army is a hierarchial organisation which employs people on contracts just like any corporation. It also has a public image to protect, and in this case damage to the image can cause serious recruitment, political and national security issues.
Any organisation has a right to manage its public relations.

yes however thier interests are better served by soldiers who know what they're getting into in the first place ..having a tightly regulated PR ship doesnt give potential recruits a balanced picture but this isnt about presenting a fair opinion as to what it means to be in the military, it's about repairing negative opinion (from their own members I might add) in the hopes of recouping recruitment quotas ..it is by definition propaganda because they're not pushing a product but rather a skewed (in their favour) POV.

 

[repiV]

that's every video ..all videos are submitted by soldiers unless they're from the military itself

How can the military censor privately submitted videos?

yes however thier interests are better served by soldiers who know what they're getting into in the first place ..having a tightly regulated PR ship doesnt give potential recruits a balanced picture but this isnt about presenting a fair opinion as to what it means to be in the military, it's about repairing negative opinion (from their own members I might add) in the hopes of recouping recruitment quotas ..it is by definition propaganda because they're not pushing a product but rather a skewed (in their favour) POV.

Everyone with an agenda pushes a skewed POV.
The whole point is to attract the right kind of person, not repel all the suitable people who are put off by the grim reality.

If I presented a fair opinion of what it means to be in telesales, I'd never make any placements. Obviously they've experienced the reality anyway, but noone is going to be fired up by being told "you're going to have to consistently make 100 calls a day and get three sales a week if you're lucky, and there's going to be an irate sales manager constantly on your back asking why you haven't got any ****ing money on the board, but you can make pretty good cash if you do it well".

Perception attracts people but other factors retain them. For example, loads of people want to get into recruitment, because it has a very romanticised image, but 70% of people leave the industry within six months. If you presented the complete reality, though, many of the people who do stay would never have gone into it.

 

[CptStern]

How can the military censor privately submitted videos?

? ummm simply by not including the ones that dont "tow the line"? thought that was the point of it all

Everyone with an agenda pushes a skewed POV.

appeal to common practice logical fallacy ..not everybody's agenda can put you in a pine box

The whole point is to attract the right kind of person, not repel all the suitable people who are put off by the grim reality.

you dont think painting a rosey picture is playing to an audience that might be "put off by the grim reality" of it all?

If I presented a fair opinion of what it means to be in telesales, I'd never make any placements.

apples and oranges, you're not selling a product that can and will kill people

Obviously they've experienced the reality anyway, but noone is going to be fired up by being told "you're going to have to consistently make 100 calls a day and get three sales a week if you're lucky, and there's going to be an irate sales manager constantly on your back asking why you haven't got any ****ing money on the board, but you can make pretty good cash if you do it well".

again you're not pushing a chance at becoming a bullet ridden corpse

Perception attracts people but other factors retain them. For example, loads of people want to get into recruitment, because it has a very romanticised image, but 70% of people leave the industry within six months. If you presented the complete reality, though, many of the people who do stay would never have gone into it.

so in other words should military recruits actually know what they're getting into they wouldnt sign up? isnt that purposeful misrepresentation? ...in other words propaganda?

 

[Candy art]

youtube is a p.o.s

 

[sinkoman]

so in other words should military recruits actually know what they're getting into they wouldnt sign up? isnt that purposeful misrepresentation? ...in other words propaganda?

Exactly.

If you're making as serious a decision as joining the army, you should know exactly what's going on down there.

Besides, i'd hope that the people joining an organization representing me and my country, would want to join because they actually wanting to help me and my country, and not because they were given some entertaining recruitment crap.

Although I do suppose that in you're (repriv's) defense, in the above case, would should be able to look past the rosy image, just as much as one should be able to be drawn in by it.

 

[CptStern]

ya but that coupled with a constant barrage of recruitment ads, mainstream media pushing similiar agendas through feel good stories on americana transported to middle eastern battlefields and even video games like America's army decidely paint the military as something it isnt: all glory

if potential recruits were actually thinking about the commitment they're making when they sign the dotted line, especially during wartime, recruitment numbers would be next to zero

 

[repiV]

? ummm simply by not including the ones that dont "tow the line"? thought that was the point of it all

Then they're not privately submitted, are they? They're sent through the army. Anyone in that position of responsibility for the army's public image who freely posts any and all videos sent should be immediately fired.

appeal to common practice logical fallacy ..not everybody's agenda can put you in a pine box

How is it a logical fallacy to point out, quite obviously, that the job of the military recruiter - essentially a sales person - is to act in the military's best interests?

you dont think painting a rosey picture is playing to an audience that might be "put off by the grim reality" of it all?

I think you misunderstood my point. All jobs are, in one way or another, grim - but if you want someone to take them, you don't describe them as such.

apples and oranges, you're not selling a product that can and will kill people

What if I was recruiting motorcycle couriers - incidentally, the most dangerous job in Britain, including military careers? Would I be morally wrong then?

again you're not pushing a chance at becoming a bullet ridden corpse

Why is it the recruiter's responsibility if someone is stupid enough to join the military without giving adequate consideration to the possibility of being killed?

so in other words should military recruits actually know what they're getting into they wouldnt sign up? isnt that purposeful misrepresentation? ...in other words propaganda?

That is only relevant to the military insofar as it affects the quality and quantity of the recruits they receive. At the end of the day, the country needs to be defended and the military needs to be adequately staffed. If some idiots make dumb choices along the way, tough tits.
All sales and public relations involves an element of propaganda. I thought you would be old and experienced enough to realise that by now.

 

[repiV]

ya but that coupled with a constant barrage of recruitment ads, mainstream media pushing similiar agendas through feel good stories on americana transported to middle eastern battlefields and even video games like America's army decidely paint the military as something it isnt: all glory

if potential recruits were actually thinking about the commitment they're making when they sign the dotted line, especially during wartime, recruitment numbers would be next to zero

Then why does hardly anybody regret joining the military?
You're being very patronising and condescending, and completely and utterly inaccurate.

 

[Solaris]

Then why does hardly anybody regret joining the military?
You're being very patronising and condescending, and completely and utterly inaccurate.

I imagine the thousands of dead and injured probably do.

 

[repiV]

I imagine the thousands of dead and injured probably do.

How can the dead regret anything, and why don't you ask the injured instead of making outlandish statements on their behalf?

If you're too stupid to realise that being a soldier is a high-risk occupation when you sign on the dotted line then you deserve to die.
The military exists to defend the country and our national interests, not to moddycoddle people with shockingly bad decision-making skills.