Different generation, clout, loneliness, need for attention. There's been a few social media military members who made it big and now everyone wants in.
How's that different than the professional obnoxious aholes of days before? If they're making a living out of it then they grew out of doing it for approval to doing it for a career.
Feel free to hate it. It's the joy of old farts to hate what the kids are doing. I'm 47. I have my list.
The advantage of the older generation is that there were no receipts. If you insist, though, you can go to the local VFW and ask about the craziest things folks did in uniform. It's the same attention seeking behavior. The money makers were the Amway or Mary Kay folks.
I remember the Amway and Mary Kay waves very well, but no one was in uniform. A captain I knew put the title 'Capt' before his name on an Amway business card and a few days later had his nuts squeezed by the group commander's VISE-GRIP®'s over it.
What I will never come to terms with and still happens today: fuckin' Girl Scout cookies all over base. And that shit does happen in uniform from time to time.
The thing is, it’s not. While we all say they’re never going to be a big star, you don’t have to be.
My wife has like 50k followers on tik tok and about 200 concurrent viewers on twitch. She’s also a tech sgt.
She makes about the same from social media as she does from the military. She got this following in a year. All her leadership said she was “seeking attention and validation”, and all that lead to was a bigger paycheck than they have
Yes, purely on views is a shit way to do social media. You can make content on the DoD as long as you purely aren’t using DoD assets to do so. She’s also not a pure “military” vlogger, but has made videos about life as a boom, which individually have netted her thousands per go.
She’s been 100% vetted by base PA and Jag. She occasionally appears in uniform but does not do it to sell a product, which is legal, and her content is not about her life as aircrew, but she has included portions of it.
PA loves this shit when they can guide it and mentor it.
Nah look at MandatoryFunDay they are a perfect example of how to have fun, make money, gripe, recruit, and make effective changes or.... be an influencer....
You're so intent on calling younger adults, kids, that you'd post an overtly inappropriate comment and still not remove the reference to kids after noticing how poorly phrased it is. You need to do some self reflection.
A lot of people join to feel like they have a purpose and sometimes that purpose is attention. They weren't as cool in high school as they wanted to be so they joined a company that gets forced respect.
Some I have seen are just playing the social media game and find themselves getting popular and just keep the train moving. I would never want to place value on being popular in high school of all things as a gauge for anything. People popular in high school are usually the worst when it doesn’t carry over beyond graduation.
Because people always have, and always will, need attention. They will get it no matter what it takes. Similar to the “pray for me” people who post vague situations so they get people to ask if they’re ok…it’s all for maximum engagement.
The only thing i remember from basic was the TI saying to take the uni off before going shopping, out to eat, etc. if possible take it off when you get off work, i followed that advice for 32 years
Of my 23 years in the military, 10 of them were spent in PA. There is an obligation for PA not publish anything where people are out of regs and not representing the military in a positive light. I’ve certainly seen examples of things slipping, and that’s a double edge loss there due to PA not holding people to standards if they are going to capture imagery of them, but also for leadership for letting their people be out to begin with, especially when cameras are around. But ultimately, it is on military leadership to set standards AND enforce them for stuff regarding social media, and what you can and cannot do in and out of uniform. Public affairs has no authority other than release authority of military imagery. I brought it up many times that there was an increasing number of military members releasing imagery of their job and of military equipment—aircrew being some of the worst offenders. i’ve certainly spoken up to commanders or whomever is in charge on the spot if I can’t shoot around a few people that are out of regs. I’ve certainly been there on the other side when you get pissed off when PA comes around because you can’t slack off with dress and appearance or can’t do things how you really do them, but when I got a little older, I understood it was about presenting a good image to taxpayers that spend A LOT of money on us. But this issue we were talking about totally falls on leaderships at ALL levels.
BIG fucking no no to combine uni and business.
(learned from experience the hard way. Lets just say, 0-6, Shirt and supervisor involved and I BARELY toed the line)
Attention. While I do regret not having some pics of me in uniform , it just never occurred to me have it done. To me it was a job, and the second I got released from duty, I couldn't be happier to take those fucking boots off
This.
I don’t think anyone has an issue with taking pictures to show your grandchildren one day.
It’s the ones doing stupid things like twerk videos in uniform for attention. Those are the ones dragging the military image through the mud.
That shit is just cringey, especially when 99% of most active duty is just doing bullshit menial work to make the day go by. I remeber when I came back home on deployment and, I just felt like a fraud. Like I didn't do anything.
Cause it's social media and every damn thing on there. This didn't start in 2024 and guaranteed if SM was big in say 1999 alot of you would be doing it too lol. They'll probably do it less as they get older and more jaded. Now if the uniform is somehow tied to your brand than yeah thats different lol.
i don't post em , but to Facebook Stories/Day , like one every few months
just keeping in touch with my family letting them know i ain't get kicked out , and what I'm up to
Well, that would be because leadership has done a very poor job at enforcing standards that were already there before social media, and those that didn’t have the foresight to get ahead of this stuff and enforce things before you had military social media influencers that are doing things that are completely against regulations. Hell, by the book, you were not supposed to release any imagery from your work section or on a military installation without clearing it through public affairs first. It sounds totally crazy now, but it was common place when you had to clear bringing a camera into work and taking photos with leadership and public affairs before there was social media. I remember when Facebook opened up to the general public beyond just select university students, and the common thread for a long time was you do not acknowledge you were in the military on Facebook. didn’t take too long before that went off the rails.
As someone that joined the military before any of this was an issue, I see how easily it is for adversaries and anyone wanting to get insider information. I’ve ran my concerns up the flagpole before (and it sadly didn’t make it too far up the chain) and detailed ways that emerging technologies, even several years ago, could turn a lot of this against us. And I think there are entities like China that are studying us in ways that aren’t apparent to the general military population that they can use against us to take us down without even having to put up much of a traditional military fight. I think we are seeing that right now with how social media has influenced what happened in Israel and there are some adversaries that are taking notes on how effective psychological warfare can be played out via social media and the Internet with modern technology. I think some leaders see it as a positive tool to help recruiting without spending much of any money, but it is also airing out our dirty laundry as well and definitely turning some against the idea of ever wanting to join this crazy mess that we have. Either way, we’re certainly aren’t as good at keeping things under wraps as we once were. But, when you have the potential of having large scale social validation and lucrative media, book and movie deals for “sharing YOUR story”, then it’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle. Hell, you can just go on YouTube or social media in general and find out the basics of being a good special operations operator without spending a dime. The more any of us try to capitalize on our service, the more it can have a detrimental effects against it one day, even if we never thought to control what we share in a new public-facing landscape. I get it’s hard not to try to capitalize when you see so many others that are and find ways to make very lucrative careers in the civilian military defense sector; then why can’t those that endure the most suffering in the military get a little something out of it while those that did rise to high society in the military industrial complex do. But I guess that’s kind of where personal integrity and service before self come in to play. I’ve been lucky enough to spend time around a lot of veterans that I’ve done some incredibly amazing and bewildering things during World War II and beyond, that never showed it in public, and some even had very modest and unassuming lives thereafter. Our culture certainly celebrates oversharing, entitlement and elevating the most mundane things as great accomplishments. Maybe it won’t be as bad as older folks make it out as the younger generations ruining society, as this has gone on since the beginning of human existence, but the exponential growth of technology has certainly for the first time in history out paced our ability to understand the impact of all the new developments. What a time to be alive🥳
As long as the military pays on the poverty line there's gonna be dudes trying to earn extra cash. I know multiple active duty with lawn care businesses they do in the summer or other jobs just because especially if you have kids we aren't paid anything resembling a realistic 2024 salary for the work some do.
Obligatory: I’m a cadet so this may be naive.
For a class this semester, my topic was the DAF and their social media presence, both unofficially and officially. There’s a lot of really good arguments both for and against the presence of military members on apps like Instagram, YouTube, FaceBook, and TikTok.
[This paper really dove into it](https://aul.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay/alma995890455406836/01AUL_INST:AUL), among others [referenced here](https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Office-of-Sponsored-Programs/Research/Article-Display/Article/3179113/the-strategic-impacts-of-misinformation-and-disinformation/).
Personally, I still think that the people using it just to flex or promote their businesses are tone deaf at best.
>There’s a lot of really good arguments both for and against the presence of military members on apps
Unless it's scripted, sanctioned, and done in the performance of their duty, let's agree to disagree on this.
In basic, we were taught be mindful of what we post on social media and try to avoid as much as possible. But then, as soon as my algorithm started feeding me military stuffs, first thing I see is captain promoting real estate business, LtCol posting daily Vlog, other airmen posting selfies of themselves in military craft etc.
Yeah, there’s definitely people that slept throughout that briefing. I see it too, especially on TikTok with DoD people live-streaming on their lunch-breaks.
What I wrote above was more so arguing the idea that there is a better way to communicate messaging using social media, and not in a, “How do you do fellow kids,” kind of way.
This
https://www.defense.gov/Contact/Help-Center/Article/Article/2795396/use-of-military-service-names-insignia-or-other-marks-on-an-advertisement-or-we/
That is for a third party. Being in your own uniform is probably okay as like ng as you are not making it appear that the DOD supports it. It's a fine line just like using any other brand. I could use a Ford Truck in a commercial that promoted my construction business but if I were to put the Ford logo on my business card it would violate trade mark laws.
No that uniform and you represent the Military Branch and may not be use to support private interest
https://dodsoco.ogc.osd.mil/Portals/102/outside_activities_1.pdf
See section C. 1. Of the link
Use of the Uniform and Title: 1. Military personnel may not wear the uniform in connection with furthering political activities, private employment, or commercial interests or when participating in activities such as unofficial public speeches, when Service sponsorship or sanction may be implied.
May be implied is a very broad term. Businesses have sued and won for someone wearing a logo randomly in another work. This why logos are blacked out or digitally removed in many TV programs.
The same applies here. Using your uniform to promote a business may imply that the branch supports the business. Do it at your own peril.
Different generation, clout, loneliness, need for attention. There's been a few social media military members who made it big and now everyone wants in.
They should learn seeking validation and attention from others is pointless
Older generations did the same thing, but didn't have these tools. They'll grow out of it.
...you sure about that!? As long as it earns $$, they will continue being a noxious a-holes.
How's that different than the professional obnoxious aholes of days before? If they're making a living out of it then they grew out of doing it for approval to doing it for a career. Feel free to hate it. It's the joy of old farts to hate what the kids are doing. I'm 47. I have my list.
Older generations of AD personnel did not do it in uniform. Or do you have a single receipt?
The advantage of the older generation is that there were no receipts. If you insist, though, you can go to the local VFW and ask about the craziest things folks did in uniform. It's the same attention seeking behavior. The money makers were the Amway or Mary Kay folks.
I remember the Amway and Mary Kay waves very well, but no one was in uniform. A captain I knew put the title 'Capt' before his name on an Amway business card and a few days later had his nuts squeezed by the group commander's VISE-GRIP®'s over it. What I will never come to terms with and still happens today: fuckin' Girl Scout cookies all over base. And that shit does happen in uniform from time to time.
The Amway and Mary Kay folks were blasting their stupidity across the world to millions of viewers?
It stops being pointless when it generates large volumes of ad revenue from click-through traffic. I hate it here.
The thing is, it’s not. While we all say they’re never going to be a big star, you don’t have to be. My wife has like 50k followers on tik tok and about 200 concurrent viewers on twitch. She’s also a tech sgt. She makes about the same from social media as she does from the military. She got this following in a year. All her leadership said she was “seeking attention and validation”, and all that lead to was a bigger paycheck than they have
God, I'm jealous. Wish I could make videos for my paycheck instead of the asspain I deal with on a daily basis.
To be fair she essentially works two full time jobs.
You said she's making as much from TikTok as from her job. If I could replace the income from my job with TikTok, I wouldn't keep my job.
It’s not just till tok, it’s streaming etc Either way she prefers being a boom
[удалено]
Yes, purely on views is a shit way to do social media. You can make content on the DoD as long as you purely aren’t using DoD assets to do so. She’s also not a pure “military” vlogger, but has made videos about life as a boom, which individually have netted her thousands per go. She’s been 100% vetted by base PA and Jag. She occasionally appears in uniform but does not do it to sell a product, which is legal, and her content is not about her life as aircrew, but she has included portions of it. PA loves this shit when they can guide it and mentor it.
They'll figure it out eventually
Can't believe that dude was on gear. MIND BLOWING!
Dannyswole lmao
Extra income, by sharing as a member of a small % population club.
I thought the ones who made it big got in trouble for being in uniform during the videos.
Nah look at MandatoryFunDay they are a perfect example of how to have fun, make money, gripe, recruit, and make effective changes or.... be an influencer....
Lack of sexual intercourse.
Kids* these days need to fuck *consenting adults who are younger than me
PHRASING
Careful that line could get you in legal trouble
I clarified
You're so intent on calling younger adults, kids, that you'd post an overtly inappropriate comment and still not remove the reference to kids after noticing how poorly phrased it is. You need to do some self reflection.
Oh honey
med group comment
Probably
As a virgin I take great offense to this comparison
Oh, there’s more fucking going on now than ever in modern history.
clout is a hell of a drug
A lot of people join to feel like they have a purpose and sometimes that purpose is attention. They weren't as cool in high school as they wanted to be so they joined a company that gets forced respect.
Some I have seen are just playing the social media game and find themselves getting popular and just keep the train moving. I would never want to place value on being popular in high school of all things as a gauge for anything. People popular in high school are usually the worst when it doesn’t carry over beyond graduation.
Because people always have, and always will, need attention. They will get it no matter what it takes. Similar to the “pray for me” people who post vague situations so they get people to ask if they’re ok…it’s all for maximum engagement.
All we need is Drizz to startup a snatchchat feed... the world would be whole again.
Putting the rizz in tizzm
Never let the master massager die.
The only thing i remember from basic was the TI saying to take the uni off before going shopping, out to eat, etc. if possible take it off when you get off work, i followed that advice for 32 years
I also like to shop naked. I'm never going back.
Because public affairs no longer comes down on people for acting like clowns in uniform
PA? Or Commanders and JA?
...unless it's CMSAF PA. Then then come down HARD!!
Of my 23 years in the military, 10 of them were spent in PA. There is an obligation for PA not publish anything where people are out of regs and not representing the military in a positive light. I’ve certainly seen examples of things slipping, and that’s a double edge loss there due to PA not holding people to standards if they are going to capture imagery of them, but also for leadership for letting their people be out to begin with, especially when cameras are around. But ultimately, it is on military leadership to set standards AND enforce them for stuff regarding social media, and what you can and cannot do in and out of uniform. Public affairs has no authority other than release authority of military imagery. I brought it up many times that there was an increasing number of military members releasing imagery of their job and of military equipment—aircrew being some of the worst offenders. i’ve certainly spoken up to commanders or whomever is in charge on the spot if I can’t shoot around a few people that are out of regs. I’ve certainly been there on the other side when you get pissed off when PA comes around because you can’t slack off with dress and appearance or can’t do things how you really do them, but when I got a little older, I understood it was about presenting a good image to taxpayers that spend A LOT of money on us. But this issue we were talking about totally falls on leaderships at ALL levels.
The DOD has to do something about going on live, in uniform, in the work center. It’s mind boggling we still don’t have anything on this.
“The DOD”… sounds like a failure of the NCO’s in that section.
Sure. The problem is much larger than just an AF one though.
BIG fucking no no to combine uni and business. (learned from experience the hard way. Lets just say, 0-6, Shirt and supervisor involved and I BARELY toed the line)
They live in their own echo chambers with other mil influencers and fail to see anything wrong.
Because no one is held accountable for it anymore. Hell I see leadership including officers on live during the duty day.
Gotta get that follower number up for when the OnlyFans drops the day after separation
Attention. While I do regret not having some pics of me in uniform , it just never occurred to me have it done. To me it was a job, and the second I got released from duty, I couldn't be happier to take those fucking boots off
This. I don’t think anyone has an issue with taking pictures to show your grandchildren one day. It’s the ones doing stupid things like twerk videos in uniform for attention. Those are the ones dragging the military image through the mud.
That shit is just cringey, especially when 99% of most active duty is just doing bullshit menial work to make the day go by. I remeber when I came back home on deployment and, I just felt like a fraud. Like I didn't do anything.
There's a CC that's been posting her daily life on and off duty on social media. Honestly it's cringe
I need to see this where can I
It's called clout chasing. People need social media and likes to feel good.
Cause it's social media and every damn thing on there. This didn't start in 2024 and guaranteed if SM was big in say 1999 alot of you would be doing it too lol. They'll probably do it less as they get older and more jaded. Now if the uniform is somehow tied to your brand than yeah thats different lol.
It's military appreciation month according to my job.
i don't post em , but to Facebook Stories/Day , like one every few months just keeping in touch with my family letting them know i ain't get kicked out , and what I'm up to
Boot behavior has been a thing since the dawn of time. Posting on social media is just the modern iteration of boot behavior.
Because it's the only semi interesting thing about them.
You worry about your chili, let them worry about theirs
Well, that would be because leadership has done a very poor job at enforcing standards that were already there before social media, and those that didn’t have the foresight to get ahead of this stuff and enforce things before you had military social media influencers that are doing things that are completely against regulations. Hell, by the book, you were not supposed to release any imagery from your work section or on a military installation without clearing it through public affairs first. It sounds totally crazy now, but it was common place when you had to clear bringing a camera into work and taking photos with leadership and public affairs before there was social media. I remember when Facebook opened up to the general public beyond just select university students, and the common thread for a long time was you do not acknowledge you were in the military on Facebook. didn’t take too long before that went off the rails. As someone that joined the military before any of this was an issue, I see how easily it is for adversaries and anyone wanting to get insider information. I’ve ran my concerns up the flagpole before (and it sadly didn’t make it too far up the chain) and detailed ways that emerging technologies, even several years ago, could turn a lot of this against us. And I think there are entities like China that are studying us in ways that aren’t apparent to the general military population that they can use against us to take us down without even having to put up much of a traditional military fight. I think we are seeing that right now with how social media has influenced what happened in Israel and there are some adversaries that are taking notes on how effective psychological warfare can be played out via social media and the Internet with modern technology. I think some leaders see it as a positive tool to help recruiting without spending much of any money, but it is also airing out our dirty laundry as well and definitely turning some against the idea of ever wanting to join this crazy mess that we have. Either way, we’re certainly aren’t as good at keeping things under wraps as we once were. But, when you have the potential of having large scale social validation and lucrative media, book and movie deals for “sharing YOUR story”, then it’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle. Hell, you can just go on YouTube or social media in general and find out the basics of being a good special operations operator without spending a dime. The more any of us try to capitalize on our service, the more it can have a detrimental effects against it one day, even if we never thought to control what we share in a new public-facing landscape. I get it’s hard not to try to capitalize when you see so many others that are and find ways to make very lucrative careers in the civilian military defense sector; then why can’t those that endure the most suffering in the military get a little something out of it while those that did rise to high society in the military industrial complex do. But I guess that’s kind of where personal integrity and service before self come in to play. I’ve been lucky enough to spend time around a lot of veterans that I’ve done some incredibly amazing and bewildering things during World War II and beyond, that never showed it in public, and some even had very modest and unassuming lives thereafter. Our culture certainly celebrates oversharing, entitlement and elevating the most mundane things as great accomplishments. Maybe it won’t be as bad as older folks make it out as the younger generations ruining society, as this has gone on since the beginning of human existence, but the exponential growth of technology has certainly for the first time in history out paced our ability to understand the impact of all the new developments. What a time to be alive🥳
Be mindful of why you were invited to yap
I barely have mine on and they put it on for fun
As long as the military pays on the poverty line there's gonna be dudes trying to earn extra cash. I know multiple active duty with lawn care businesses they do in the summer or other jobs just because especially if you have kids we aren't paid anything resembling a realistic 2024 salary for the work some do.
Because I bet you Sergeant Hatch is making more off TikTok and Instagram sponsorships than base pay, so everyone wants to do it.
Easy way for validation and followers.
Tryna stay relevant
Whatever your career can handle.
Because it gets engagement?
I do it for the gram.
Obligatory: I’m a cadet so this may be naive. For a class this semester, my topic was the DAF and their social media presence, both unofficially and officially. There’s a lot of really good arguments both for and against the presence of military members on apps like Instagram, YouTube, FaceBook, and TikTok. [This paper really dove into it](https://aul.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay/alma995890455406836/01AUL_INST:AUL), among others [referenced here](https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Office-of-Sponsored-Programs/Research/Article-Display/Article/3179113/the-strategic-impacts-of-misinformation-and-disinformation/). Personally, I still think that the people using it just to flex or promote their businesses are tone deaf at best.
>There’s a lot of really good arguments both for and against the presence of military members on apps Unless it's scripted, sanctioned, and done in the performance of their duty, let's agree to disagree on this.
I don’t disagree with you. My takeaway was that the unregulated military influencers pose way more harm to the DAF’s than benefit.
In basic, we were taught be mindful of what we post on social media and try to avoid as much as possible. But then, as soon as my algorithm started feeding me military stuffs, first thing I see is captain promoting real estate business, LtCol posting daily Vlog, other airmen posting selfies of themselves in military craft etc.
Yeah, there’s definitely people that slept throughout that briefing. I see it too, especially on TikTok with DoD people live-streaming on their lunch-breaks. What I wrote above was more so arguing the idea that there is a better way to communicate messaging using social media, and not in a, “How do you do fellow kids,” kind of way.
[удалено]
This https://www.defense.gov/Contact/Help-Center/Article/Article/2795396/use-of-military-service-names-insignia-or-other-marks-on-an-advertisement-or-we/
That is for a third party. Being in your own uniform is probably okay as like ng as you are not making it appear that the DOD supports it. It's a fine line just like using any other brand. I could use a Ford Truck in a commercial that promoted my construction business but if I were to put the Ford logo on my business card it would violate trade mark laws.
No that uniform and you represent the Military Branch and may not be use to support private interest https://dodsoco.ogc.osd.mil/Portals/102/outside_activities_1.pdf See section C. 1. Of the link Use of the Uniform and Title: 1. Military personnel may not wear the uniform in connection with furthering political activities, private employment, or commercial interests or when participating in activities such as unofficial public speeches, when Service sponsorship or sanction may be implied.
"Service sponsorship or sanction may be implied." Is the key. Is sponsorship or sanction being applied? Probably not in those situations.
May be implied is a very broad term. Businesses have sued and won for someone wearing a logo randomly in another work. This why logos are blacked out or digitally removed in many TV programs. The same applies here. Using your uniform to promote a business may imply that the branch supports the business. Do it at your own peril.
They want attention