What is the proper protocol for senior officers/NCOs to connect with junior officers/NCO/Soldiers in Social Media?

CPT (Join to see) Sir, I'm on the other side of that coin from you, but I've had some experience with the delicate balance of personal and professional life requires us to have.

The most direct military instructions I've received has been from my instructors at BESS who put out to the class that it's pretty much verboten until 6 months after the course is complete, but that guidance was only in regard to instructor/former student contact. As for everyone else, I've head things ranging from "it doesn't matter at all" to "it doesn't matter, unless the person in question is in your direct chain of command."

I say I've had experience with this, though. Before I enlisted, my second job (roughly 25-30 hours a week) was as the social media marketing director and administrator and assistant youth minister at my Church. Our the social media guidelines for our diocese spelled out pretty clearly who could and could not be personal FB friends, and between superiors and subordinates, it was a no-go.

By and large, though, unless there is a specific regulation that gives guidance, the rule of thumb, that I developed over the last couple of years as a social media admin was to ask myself, "Will I be socializing with this person in real life, or does my position of authority dictate that I maintain a less-personal-more-professional relationship with them?" If the answer was, "No, we're not going to be socializing," then there really isn't a need for me to be their 'friend' on a social media site."

Now, connections here and on a site like LinkedIn are a little different; the point of the network is to maintain professional contacts, so such connections should probably be fostered. But, that is a significant difference; we're not coming on to RallyPoint or to LinkedIn (if we have one) to share photos from summer vacation or to take a BuzzFeed Quiz or share our opinions on sports. We're here to connect with other professionals for professional growth.

The long of the short of it is, sir: a *social* social media site (i.e. Facebook), I would steer clear of connections that might raise eyebrows; a *professional* social media site, I would recommend building that network.

I created a separate FB page for work. It seemed to work for me. I don't check it as much, but at one time I was managing the unit FB page and wanted to keep my personal life separate.

I have many people in my unit on Facebook its almost necessary just in case contact needs to be made a good bit of them wont answer phone or text but the second they get the message on Facebook they reply and being for my civilian job I work on boats that usually ill be a few hundred miles away from land it helps my unit make contact with me. It also helps monitor whats going on in the daily lives of each other incase someone is having issues at home or whatever it is but is not quite willing to ask for help but will post it on social media. So it allows leaders to identify problems before it escalates and offer help and guidance.

i can see why service members have their speculations on it but in my opinion it shouldn't matter other people will think that its unprofessional and it can be if they see you more of a friend than someone who is in charge of you, it has its pros and cons either way

CPT (Join to see), only if the two happen to be 2LT and 1LT who do not have to salute each-other

I personally connect with everyone. But I follow the rule that I am not going to say or post anything I would not say or do with my mother or my preacher. Like someone else posted, it lets you see problems before they effect someones work or the unit.

Like it or not, this is the direction the world is going and “privacy” is controlled by what you type and the pictures you let get posted. If you don't do keg stands, there can never be any pictures put on the internet.

You can connect with them and still have professional distance.

I always added my Soldiers because you can ensure they aren't putting information out (sensitive, misinformation, etc...) and you can see if they have any larger personal issues (drugs or drunk on a monday afternoon, for example). It helps to keep an eye on the pulse of a unit. It's not like I put anything stupid in my Facebook feed.

My facebook is personal, it is family and friends and I keep it private. As a member of the JAG Corp, I have seen too many cases where facebook came back to bite the Soldier. My Soldiers don't need to see my inner personal life. Do people have multiple facebook accounts? I would consider that as an option by having once that is strictly a professional site. Maybe that's what rallypoint is.

Facebook is for people that I might hang out with and drink beers with on the weekend. I wouldn't want a junior guy on there because my personal life doesn't include them same with my senior leadership.

"The best rulers are scarcely known by their subjects;
The next best are loved and praised;
The next are feared;
The next despised:" -- Laozi, DaoDeJing

The traditional wisdom is, the greatest danger of being too close with your subordinate Soldiers is the appearance of favoritism or preferential treatment. Even if no such treatment exists, rumors will fly and will hurt your unit's morale and discipline.

I don't entirely buy into this though. I think the world is moving more and more towards information equality and ubiquity. Engagement and attention is becoming a premium, and we in leadership positions must adapt to this, not stick our heads in the sand in wishing for better days of yore. It is a fine line to maintain decorum online, but I believe the tradeoff is too valuable to dismiss without exploring.

My unit is mainly in the 18-28, E1-E5 demographic. I'd love for first line leaders and platoon sergeants to be engaged with their subordinates on social media. I think this is just the next evolution of "taking care of your Soldiers".