Efficacy of Social Media in Wars and Conflicts Brief Review of Russia-Ukraine War

Abstract

Social media has evolved over time as a weapon, as more useful tool in modern wars, though the concept of informational warfare is as old as wars and conflicts. From the Chief Executive of the state to the battlefield commander, everybody is using social media tools to communicate, either with the outside world or their own people. If the Chief Executive is using it for strategic communication, Ministries involved in the war effort would be using it for narrative building, and the field commander may be using it to update his position to raise the morale of his soldiers. Social media has now been fully weaponized in the context of opinion formation through narrative building and at times deter the opponent through misinformation, disinformation, and fake communication. This article is aimed at exploring the efficacy and impact of social media on wars and conflict, particularly on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The paper concludes that an effective use of social media can have an overriding impact on the outcome of the battle in the changed paradigm.