Office of the Chief of Public Affairs Online and Social Media Division

Flickr strategy

Introduction:

A Brief Explanation of FlickrFlickr is an image and video hosting website and online community platform. In addition to being a popular website for users to share personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers and journalists as a photo repository.

The U.S. Army on Flickr The U.S. Army Flickr account allows the Army to engage traditional audiences to include Soldiers, Families and Veterans in addition to its global audience by providing dynamic and professional Army photos. Flickr also allows for members of the Flickr community to “friend” the U.S. Army, comment on photos, and download high-resolution photos for their use. To date the Army has uploaded over 8,000 photos that have been viewed millions of times.

Technical Approach

The name of the Flickr account is based on the U.S. Army brand, and not an individual’s name. Branding on the page should reflect the U.S. Army.

The password must contain at least 10 characters, contain at least 2 special characters, 2 numbers, 2 uppercase letters, and 2 lowercase letters. The password is changed every 30-60 days.

The U.S. Army’s photo set is open to the public so any visitor to the U.S. Army’s Flickr profile will be able to view and download photo(s).

1

Online and Social Media DivisionSocial Media Lead Roles and Responsibilities

Messaging Strategies: Content

The primary focus of the U.S. Army’s Flickr page is to give Soldiers, Veterans, and Families, as well as the media and general public, a visual story of the U.S. Army.

The following strategies are employed to ensure that U.S. Army’s Flickr profile is used properly:

The Social Media Team uploads 3-5 photos to Flickr each day.

The Social Media Team uploads photos of Soldiers in various locations, both deployed and in garrison environments. The Flickr account also features photos of Army Family members and civilians. The Online and Social Media Division works to upload photos from units with unique missions. Photos from the Army National Guard and the Army Reserves are also included.

The Social Media Team checks the U.S. Army’s Flickr profile mailbox daily and respond to messages as necessary.

The Social Media Team will only post content that supports the Army mission and the Army themes.

The Social Media Team organizes photos into sets (albums) so they are more easily viewed by the event and/or category.

The Social Media Team does not remove comments solely because they are negative, however they do remove comments that are vulgar, obscene, offensive or violate security/privacy regulations or laws.

The Social Media Team will provide links to Army.mil stories associated with the photo in the caption portion of the photo.

The Social Media team will link to two Flickr Photos a day on the Army’s official Facebook page. It will also post one photo each morning to the Army’s official Twitter account.

Guidelines on Questions and Comments

While Flickr is primarily a photo sharing tool, users of the site have the capability to communicate with the Army through direct messages, photo comments, and other communication means. As such, the Army may receive questions or comments through Flickr and this section outlines the processes and guidelines that will be taken to ensure that questions and comments receive proper responses:

The Social Media Team will respond to specific queries with a casual, friendly and personable tone.

2

The Social Media Team will never use social media tools to respond to queries that require the discussion of sensitive information—in these cases, the Army will refer the individual to the appropriate contact to answer the question or resolve the issue

The Social Media Team will delete comments that contain abusive or vulgar language, spam, hate speech, personal attacks or any other comments that are not appropriate or relevant.

The U.S. Army will not post photos that depict the following:

Images that do not support the mission of the U.S. Army.

Images that violate U.S. Army Operational Security (OPSEC) guidelines.

Images that could be used as propaganda by enemies of the United States.

Images that depict illegal activity, the use of illegal substances, or the presence of alcohol or tobacco products.

Images that display nudity.

Images that contain any content that could be construed as racist, derogatory, or otherwise offensive.

Images that show military personnel or government/contracted employees acting in an unprofessional manner or engaging in any act that would damage the image or reputation of the Army.

Removal of Inappropriate Content Posted by Users

The Army’s Social Media Team will work quickly to remove any form of inappropriate content posted by users on Army’s Social Media profiles. All members of the Social Media Team are authorized to remove postings that violate the family-friendly environment that is outlined in the profile content or otherwise violate security or OPSEC concerns.

Measuring Success

The following metrics will be used to determine success:

Provide analysis of the number of views of material each week.

Provide analysis of what photos receive the most views each week.

Measure the amount of direct engagement with Soldiers, Veterans, Families and the general public by tracking inquiries.

Record the number of photos we add each week to help determine if higher number of views for the week is linked to more photos being added (and vice versa).

3

Track number of photos re-purposed on other sites (i.e. Associated Press, Blogs, etc).

All measurements are crucial in determining how the Social Media Team can better serve its audience. Providing analytics also assist the Social Media Team in displaying the importance of using social media platforms to Senior Leadership.

4