Measuring the Reach and Impact of Information Warfare

Abstract

Information is a critical component of national power, with new information narratives emerging daily. While some narratives deserve attention by leaders, others lack enough traction to warrant attention. In the context of Information Warfare, leaders must understand key metrics of emerging narratives to determine their importance. Faced with the problem that leaders do not know if a social media story matters, we created a dashboard to aid leaders in identifying Information Warfare campaigns and their impacts. The methodology consisted of measuring four metrics of distinct narratives: reach, virality, propagation, and organic versus inorganic activity. Taken together, these metrics show how narratives spread, the speed of spread, authenticity, and impact. When packaged together in dashboard visualizations, these metrics enable informed decision making in strategic environments in the information dimension.