Social media guidance released for Airmen Published April 13, 2012 By 1st Lt. Jason Smith 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs RAF MILDENHALL, England -- The Air Force Public Affairs Agency recently released "Navigating the Social Network," a guide to help all Airmen use social media safely and wisely. The guide, which is not a replacement for Air Force instructions regarding social media and release of information, gives leaders and Airmen of all ranks more detailed instruction about what can and can't be posted to the Web in official capacities. Some of the common social media sites include Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr and blogs of all sorts. According to the checkfacebook website, there are about 157,000,000 Facebook users in the United States and about 30,600,000 in the United Kingdom. Nearly 50 percent of the users are between the ages of 18-34. In conjunction, the average age of an active-duty enlisted member is 29, implying that junior enlisted Airmen are among the highest demographic in age for using Facebook. Typically, only wings and higher-level units are authorized official social media pages. Official pages must be approved by AFPAA and must adhere to all applicable standards. RAF Mildenhall currently has only one official social media page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RAFMildenhall. Although not labeled as "official," there are many other Facebook pages with direct ties to RAF Mildenhall. Airmen should know that the public audience may not differentiate between the official page and pages with content showing RAF Mildenhall Airmen and discussing topics related to the base. The lines between an Airman's personal page and posting in an official capacity can be blurry. A picture that is not an official Air Force photograph but contains Airmen in uniform surrounded by military equipment can look official to the general public. AFI 35-101, 2.13.1. says all Airmen are required to obtain clearance before releasing any "statement, text or imagery to the public or non-military audience. This includes any digital products posted on an unrestricted public web site." The social media guide offers some considerations for commanders looking to post to social media. Some of the tips include: Be honest about who is maintaining your site Consider your public image when posting Don't rely on social media to communicate your messages Listen to your followers and engage as necessary When in doubt about posting on social media, all Team Mildenhall members can contact the 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs Office as a starting point. As a general rule with any photo or statement having an Air Force affiliation, PA will ask, "If the commander was with you right now, would you post it? If the answer is 'no,' then you should probably keep it to yourself." The new social media guide can be found on RAF Mildenhall's official web site: http://www.mildenhall.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-120413-005.pdf