Must Read Wired Article - Why ISIS is Winning the Social Media War - April 2016

Why ISIS is winning the Social Media War – Brendan I. Koerner

Wired Magazine, April 2016

Wired magazine ran a very interesting and must read article for PSYOP professionals addressing the why and how ISIS has turned itself into a media and branding machine.

I couldn’t find the article on line for some reason – it’s worth buy the magazine this month just for this article!

Here are some key points:

• Daesh “has long taken pride in its flair for developing content that is innovative and repugnant in equal measure.” P 78

• The shrewd use of digital media was integral to ISIS’ lightning-fast expansion in 2013 and 2014” p 80

• The videos serve many purposes besides recruitment. Videos produced on ride alongs with death squads have “helped persuade police and soldiers in other cities to melt away rather than resist when they heard that ISIS forces were on the march.” P 81

• “social media has lowered the bar of entry for recruits” p 81

The article concludes “ We must resist the distorting effects of the media “media halo” that the Islamic State has built for itself, while never forgetting the considerable power of our own.”

Photo Source: Wired Magazine pages 76 & 77, April 2016