Missouri National Guard Expands Presence in Social Media

JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri National Guard is expanding its on-line presence by joining new social media sites.

Google+ and Pinterest are the newest sites to gain Missouri Guard involvement, and reflect the Missouri National Guard's commitment to reaching its soldiers, airmen and family members through all available means, said Maj. Gen. Stephen L. Danner, adjutant general of the Missouri National Guard.

"The Missouri National Guard leads the nation in many aspects, and social media is one of those areas," Danner said. "Communities across Missouri are so supportive of the Missouri National Guard; we want to be sure that we are taking part in the conversations that are happening in the social media environment."

Google+ is a place for Guard members to see more than just news about the Guard. They have the opportunity to discuss the Missouri National Guard with new circles of friends.

Pinterest is currently one of the fastest growing social media sites with more than 4 million active users. It is a "virtual pinboard" that allows users to share ideas, images and other things they find inspiring. Users post "pins," usually images or graphics, onto their own categorized pinboards.

The Missouri Guard has started its boards with categories including military history, military photography, National Guard stories, deployments and military life. Some pins are repined from other Pinterest users while others are original pins from Missouri National Guard websites.

When Maj. Gen. Stephen L. Danner was appointed adjutant general of Missouri, he laid out his vision for the public affairs office to use emerging media to publicize his three top priorities: The Missouri National Guard's people, training and mission.

Since then, the Missouri National Guard has established an integrated, highly-effective, joint new media program. By combining social media platforms the public affairs office has built a streamlined system that allows it to disseminate a wide variety of information with one voice over a wide range of media to a variety of audiences.

"Social media sites aren't just about talking to an audience, they're about building a community," said Maj. Tamara Spicer, the Missouri National Guard state public affairs officer. "They have drastically changed the way we do business, from getting out information about new programs to communicating during emergencies. We owe it to our soldiers and airmen to make sure we're getting them information in the most effective way possible."

The Missouri National Guard can be found on Google+ and on Pinterest.

For more information about the Missouri National Guard, please visit www.moguard.com and its social media sites:

• www.facebook.com/Missouri.National.Guard;
• www.twitter.com/Missouri_NG;
• www.youtube.com/MoNationalGuard;
• www.myspace.com/missouri_ng;
• www.flickr.com/photos/missouriguard;
• www.moguard.com/blog;
• www.pinterest.com/monationalguard/