The Ukrainian Army is Leveraging Online Influencers. Can the U.S. Military?

Speaker: Dr. Todd Helmus (RAND)

Date: 6 June 2023

Speaker Session Summary

The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how cooperation between a country’s military and prominent social media influencers can be a useful tool for harnessing narrative control relating to conflicts. Dr. Helmus argued that Ukraine has been out-performing Russia in its ability to create and disseminate effective narratives surrounding the ongoing war. The success of Ukraine’s information operations is in part due to its tactic of leveraging civilian and military influencers who regularly post on social media. These influencers use their platform to share posts that highlight the loss of innocent life during Russian attacks, the resilience of Ukraine’s civilian population, and the success of Ukrainian military operations. These information operations come at virtually no cost to Ukraine because most creators are posting videos on their own volition. Dr. Helmus commented that while researchers have not been able to empirically confirm the positive effects of these social media operations, Ukrainian officials have emphasized their importance on the battlefield. While Ukraine has recently been using its media to great effect, the practice of leveraging influencers on social media is a well-used marketing strategy.

Corporations have long used online employee advocacy programs, allowing individual employees to act as brand ambassadors. Employees are effectively brand ambassadors because they know the brand well, and their status as “ordinary people” increases their credibility. Dr. Helmus emphasized that while corporations want to limit negative posts by employees, posts about bad days at work can build influencer authenticity, benefiting the company in the long-term. He also said that he has not seen any evidence that the US Armed Forces are leveraging influencers like Ukraine has. Potential benefits of the US armed forces using influencers include encouraging recruitment. He emphasized that training programs should be used to avoid the inappropriate use of social media by soldiers. However, the authenticity of the influencer is the most important factor to their success. Dr. Helmus concluded by stating that any stories highlighting the negative aspects of military life will be far outweighed by the positive sentiment held by most military members.

Briefing Materials

The Ukrainian Army Is Leveraging Online Influencers. Can the U.S. Military?

On May 11, 2022, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Twitter account highlighted the results of a deadly artillery assault on a failed Russian pontoon crossing of the Siverskyi Donets river. The tweet generated over 14,000 likes and nearly 2,000 retweets. Another tweet, posted by a Ukrainian soldier that same day, on the same assault, read simply, “What I did to destroy Russian pantonne bridge over Siverskyi Donets — a thread.” In this tweet, a self-described Explosive Ordnance Disposal specialist told the story of his personal role in the Ukrainian attack.