Of Social Media In The American War Zone By Lisa Ellen Silvestri

Imagine if the loved ones of those who were sent for military service could be notified that they’re doing well with a few notifications instead of waiting on letters that take forever. In Friended at the Front: Social Media in the American War Zone written by Lisa Ellen Silvestri, intended to show that social media like Facebook and YouTube changed the US troop’s experience and behavior during their service in Iraq and Afghanistan. This review of the book is not to tell the audience that everything explained here is how every troop tries to stay connected to their family at home or that every trooper used social media. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to discuss Silvestri’s information provided in her book about how the US Troops used

During his stay in Iraq, she realized he posted a lot of pictures of his activities on Facebook which were very different from her father’s pictures during his service in the past. Military involvement in her brother and father developed an interest in Silvestri and being a professor of communication studies allowed her to expand this interest since social media is a source of communication. Following along, Friended at the Front is organized into six chapters about certain subjects that discusses the troop’s activities on Facebook and YouTube. Additionally, Silvestri also provides a list of military abbreviations, just in case the reader isn’t familiar with them since she uses many of them throughout the book. In her introduction, she provides the sources of who she focused on to get information. For example, Silvestri states that she “focus[ed] exclusively on the US Marines because, of all the branches, it is the unit most frequently deployed on combat environments”

. . since they can stay in touch and receive emotional support from loved ones back home” (Silvestri 161). This quote is overall the idea of the positive use of social media for the troops. Facebook allowed them to post their thoughts to notify their family and friends and share pictures while YouTube allowed them to get caught up with viral videos and share some of their own that they recorded. Talking back about the disadvantage of receiving the public’s opinions, there was a positive side to it too. It helped the troops to be more mindful of not posting any violence that occurs during their service. Given that, it would be a better thing to show their family and friends the fun they try to have anyways. Speaking of showing the fun troops had during their service, Silvestri includes a chapter full of pictures of what the troop’s posted on both sites from taking care of their daily needs to interesting activities to delay boredom. She does a good job of showing that the troops tried to make their stay at service more entertaining. With her pictures, she is able to get her readers more focused because they’re a great source to give them a visual image of what she’s talking about. Generally speaking, the troops were able to get more positive outcomes from using social media rather than