Social Media During a Deployment

There's a lot that goes into social media during a deployment. For starters you have to follow the rules of OPSEC. Essentially that  basically means not ever saying when or where when it relates to your spouse. Don't say they'll be home in X many months, don't say there currently docked in X port. When in doubt don't say it. Lol

But here are some more tips to using social media as a spouse while your husband is on deployment. 

1. Facebook is not your personal journal- we get it your miss your spouse, heck I wake up every single day and miss mine but you'll be damned if you see me post "poor me" my husband is gone statuses all the time, they tend to be attention seeking and the more you do it the less people care. That just kind of how it works, there are specific pages for military wives to find other wive to support each other through this time, but an arbitrary status about how you miss you husband for the eighth time today get's redundant.

2. When you have other military friends watch what you say- you are not the first person in the world to go through a deployment. It's rough, yes we all know but let's remember that some deployments are longer than others, some spouses have more contact with their SO's than others and when you over share you are throwing your life in someone else's face. I know spouses that get to Skype their husbands every day, where as I haven't heard my husbands voice in over a month so hearing them complain gets to be difficult. Or reading status's about how depressed a wife is that her husband is on an underway is rough when it's been 3 months since you've held your sailor in your arms and they saw theirs last week and he'll be home in a matter or days. A good rule, with most relationships is to just keep your business off the internet. It's okay to miss them but remember someone always has it worse than you and if you're really having a difficult time post to a private support page, otherwise it looks like you're just seeking attention. 

3. Support pages are for support- you'd be surprised the amount of people that post questions that could have easily be answered by google. It get's rather obnoxious when there are people that are really having problems but their post gets pushed down because someone wants anniversary present ideas. Now one, no one knows you or your spouse so how would they help you pick a gift but two that's something you can google or look up on Pinterest, I'll admit that's not my best example but join some of these pages and you'll see what I'm talking about right away. 

Facebook and Instagram can be a great way of keeping up to date with you SO, they can post pics in port and you can use these sites to share pictures and communicate, but just be responsible. The last thing you want is a deployment getting pushed back because you shared secret information and put the lives of all the sailors on the ship in danger because someone asked when or where he's coming home and you didn't think it would hurt to tell them over the internet. Like I said before, when in doubt, just don't. And if you really want to know you can always GOOGLE Opsec and you'll find tons of information. Happy Tweeting,

Kayla

Here are a few extra links to check out if you're still a little confused about the rules of OPSEC, please look at theses if you're unsure because this really is important. 

http://www.dodea.edu/offices/safety/opsec.cfm

http://spousebuzz.com/blog/2012/07/6-surprise-opsec-donts.html

This is a course to help you if you're still a little foggy about the rules. I think it's the easiest way to learn these guidelines and solidify them in your mind. 

http://cdsetrain.dtic.mil/opsec/