Facebook Helping Link Deployed Service Members and Families

Deployment during the holidays can be hard on both the family and the military member involved. Making good on promises made on Veterans Day this year to help connect the two, Facebook and Blue Star Families released a social media guide this week.

The guide is “an easy-to navigate online handbook detailing everything from privacy settings to groups to Operational security and more -– all tailored for today’s 21st century military.”

Don Faul, a former Marine and Facebook’s Vice President of Online Operations, shared his thoughts on using social media to help military members stay connected:

For military families, certain features take on a different meaning than for civilians.  For example we often hear about “the green dot” – which on the surface - signals that someone is available for Chat. Military families who have deployed service members tell us that for them, this is a sign that their loved one is OK.  It’s inspiring to hear these stores – and to see how something so simple can take on a deeper meaning for military families.

While many military families are already power users of Facebook, there are some products and features they may not know about, like Groups, which the guide explains in more detail. We have seen military families create Groups for topics ranging from career networking and family readiness to Groups for a deployed service member and his or her family so that they can communicate in a closed setting.

Families and military members were also recently asked to share their stories of using social media. One Army veteran used Facebook to attend her daughter's baby shower virtually. Another woman found Facebook to be more reliable than phone calls, which got dropped, for communicating with her husband who was deployed.

Learn more about U.S. Military on Facebook here.

[H/T All Facebook]