Will Twitter war become the new norm?

Israel Defense Forces "live tweet" an attack on Gaza Observers say this may be a turning point for social media Mathew Ingram: Future conflicts may have to be live tweeted because of precedent Professor: Hopefully civilian voices will help cut through military spin on Twitter (CNN) -- War is not just about bombs and rockets. It's about words. That's been true for centuries, of course. But the public got a rude awakening this week about just how much those words can matter in the digital age whethe Israel Defense Force live tweeted its strike that killed a Hamas leader. The military's live spin about the strike, and Hamas' response on a separate Twitter feed, have been called an unprecedented use of social media. BuzzFeed wrote that it "may well be the most meaningful change in our consumption of war in over 20 years." It's raising questions about the ethics and implications of live-tweeting a violent conflict. And it's calling into question the democratic, everyone-has-a-voice nature of Twitter, which is known more for giving a voice to protesters and civilians than military spokespeople. In this case, it seems to be giving a megaphone to the military. .cnnArticleGalleryNav{border:1px solid #000;cursor:pointer;float:left;height:25px;text-align:center;width:25px} .cnnArticleGalleryNavOn{background-color:#C03;border:1px solid #000;float:left;height:25px;text-align:center;width:20px} .cnnArticleGalleryNavDisabled{background-color:#222;border:1px solid #000;color:#666;float:left;height:25px;text-align:center;width:25px} .cnnArticleExpandableTarget{background-color:#000;display:none;position:absolute} .cnnArticlePhotoContainer{height:122px;width:214px} .cnnArticleBoxImage{cursor:pointer;height:122px;padding-top:0;width:214px} .cnnArticleGalleryCaptionControl{background-color:#000;color:#FFF} .cnnArticleGalleryCaptionControlText{cursor:pointer;float:right;font-size:10px;padding:3px 10px 3px 3px} .cnnArticleGalleryPhotoContainer cite{background:none repeat scroll 0 0 #000;bottom:48px;color:#FFF;height:auto;left:420px;opacity:.7;position:absolute;width:200px;padding:10px} .cnnArticleGalleryClose{background-color:#fff;display:block;text-align:right} .cnnArticleGalleryCloseButton{cursor:pointer} .cnnArticleGalleryNavPrevNext span{background-color:#444;color:#CCC;cursor:pointer;float:left;height:23px;text-align:center;width:26px;padding:4px 0 0} .cnnArticleGalleryNavPrevNextDisabled span{background-color:#444;color:#666;float:left;height:23px;text-align:center;width:25px;padding:4px 0 0} .cnnVerticalGalleryPhoto{padding-right:68px;width:270px;margin:0 auto} .cnnGalleryContainer{float:left;clear:left;margin:0 0 20px;padding:0 0 0 10px} if (typeof cnnArticleGallery == "undefined") { var cnnArticleGallery = {}; } if(typeof cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList =="undefined"){ cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList = []; } var expGallery51=new ArticleExpandableGallery(); expGallery51.setImageCount(43); //cnn_adbptrackpgalimg("Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis", 1); A relative grieves during the funeral for Itzik Amsalem in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel, on Friday, November 16. At least three people were killed in the Israeli town when a rocket fired from Gaza struck an apartment building there Thursday, November 15. Fighting between Israel and Hamas militants persisted Friday with no immediate end in sight. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":true,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":1,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinian protesters hold up the Hamas flag during a rally Friday in the West Bank city of Ramallah. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":2,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} People take cover during a rocket attack at a funeral Friday in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":3,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli security forces Friday in a West Bank village near Bethlehem. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":4,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} An Israeli soldier aims at Palestinian youth at a West Bank checkpoint Friday during a protest against the fighting in Gaza. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":5,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinian Fares Sadallah, 11, cries outside his home after an Israeli airstrike Friday in northern Gaza. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":6,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish a blaze Friday at the Ministry of Interior in Gaza City following an Israeli air raid. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":7,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Relatives of Itzik Amsalam, who was killed Thursday in Kiryat Malakhi, Israel, mourn during Friday's funeral. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":8,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} A woman cries during the funeral of Itzik Amsalam on Friday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":9,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} An Israeli soldier fires a tear gas canister toward Palestinian stone throwers on a road mainly used by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Beit Omar on Friday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":10,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinians run for cover after an Israeli airstrike hits Gaza City on Friday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":11,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinian youths inspect a destroyed mosque in northern Gaza on Friday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":12,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Israeli soldiers conduct a patrol as some 16,000 reserve troops are drafted in on Friday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":13,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinian mourners carry the body of Audi Naser during his funeral in Gaza on Friday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":14,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinian women and children cry during the funeral of Audi Naser on Friday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":15,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the Civilian Affairs branch of the Ministry of Interior on Friday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":16,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Smokes billows from a target of an Israeli airstrike Friday in Gaza near the border with Israel. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":17,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} An Israeli woman looks out from an apartment building in Ashdod, Israel, damaged by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants on Friday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":18,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinians extinguish a fire after Israeli airstrikes targeted the Interior Ministry building in Gaza City Friday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":19,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Israelis take cover in a lpipe used as a bomb shelter, after a rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, November 15 in Kiryat Malachi, Israel. Rockets and shells crisscrossed between Israel and Gaza on Thursday as Palestinian militants continued rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and Israel pounded what it called terror sites. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":20,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} An Israeli man looks out from an apartment building that was hit by a rocket launched presumably from the Gaza Strip, claiming three lives on Thursday in Kiryat Malachi, Israel. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":21,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinians extinguish a fire after Israeli air strikes targeted an electricity generator that fed the house of Hamas's Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City, on Thursday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":22,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} A crater is left at a spot targeted by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City early Thursday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":23,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Israeli soldiers rest by their armored personnel carriers stationed on the Israel-Gaza border on Thursday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":24,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Rescue workers evacuate a body Thursday in the Israeli town of Kiryat Malakhi after a rocket launched from Gaza hit an apartment building. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":25,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":26,"title":"Warning: Graphic image (single)"} Palestinian relatives mourn over the body of Hanen Tafish, a 10-month-old girl, at the morgue of the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Thursday after she died following an Israeli air strike in the Zeitun neighbourhood. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":27,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinians watch a funeral Thursday in southern Gaza. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":28,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} A Palestinian pleads for help as he and others try to save a man trapped under his car after an Israeli air raid Thursday in northern Gaza. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":29,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Israeli police inspect an apartment building hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Kiryat Malakhi on Thursday. At least three Israelis were killed and four were wounded, an Israeli police spokesman said. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":30,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} The Israeli military launches a missile Thursday from the southern city of Beersheba. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":31,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} A picture taken from the southern Israeli town of Sderot shows smoke billowing from a spot targeted by an Israeli airstrike inside Gaza on Thursday. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":32,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} A Palestinian man inspects his damaged house following an Israeli airstrike early Thursday in Gaza City. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":33,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} An Israeli reacts after a rocket launched from Gaza hits a building Thursday in Kiryat Malakhi. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":34,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinian firefighters extinguish the blaze from the car of Ahmed al-Jaabari, head of Hamas' military wing, after an Israeli airstrike hit it in Gaza City on Wednesday, November 14. The Israeli strike killed al-Jaabari. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":35,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} A woman sits inside a bomb shelter Wednesday in Netivot, Israel. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":36,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike Wednesday in Khan Younis, Gaza. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":37,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinian firefighters extinguish fire from the car in which al-Jaabari was apparently riding. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":38,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} A Palestinian man cries as security forces wheel al-Jaabari's body into a hospital. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":39,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinian youths look inside a building where al-Jaabari's body was brought after the attack. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":40,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} A wounded Palestinian girl cries at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":41,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinian youths evacuate an elderly man following an Israeli airstrike. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":42,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Palestinian civilians leave their houses following an Israeli airstrike. cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":5,"y":1,"pos":43,"title":"Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis"} Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Warning: Graphic image (single) Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis HIDE CAPTION << < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 > >> Photos: Violence flares between Palestinians, Israelis Event.observe(window, 'load', function() { //report the first gallery image to ADBP if(typeof(cnn_adbptrackpgalimg) == 'function' && typeof(cnnArticleGallery) != 'undefined') { cnn_adbptrackpgalimg(cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[0].image, ""); } }); "Armies and militaries and governments have done this kind of thing with radio broadcasts and whatever tools they have at their disposal," said Mathew Ingram, a senior writer for the tech site GigaOm. "What changes it is the reach and the speed" of the messages in the social media age. "Twitter and Facebook haven't reinvented communications, but they sure have changed it in some pretty important ways." Amid fears the violence could escalate, Israel has reported three people killed and Hamas says 20 Palestinians are dead. At least 274 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel, according to the Israeli military. More than 140 strikes have hit Gaza, sources with Hamas say. Both sides say they were retaliating against the other's actions. Tweets from the official @IDFSpokesperson account, which had about 100,000 followers on Thursday, announced an attack on Gaza and reported on its aftermath. "The IDF has begun a widespread campaign on terror sites & operatives in the #Gaza Strip," the feed wrote on Wednesday, "chief among them #Hamas & Islamic Jihad targets." The feed followed that up with this stark image: Ahmed Jabari: Eliminated. twitter.com/IDFSpokesperso...— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) November 14, 2012 And it issued warnings to Hamas: We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead.— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) November 14, 2012 A Twitter feed for the Izzedine al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, which controls the Palestinian territory of Gaza, responded to another one of the IDF's tweets this way: @idfspokesperson Our blessed hands will reach your leaders and soldiers wherever they are (You Opened Hell Gates on Yourselves)— Alqassam Brigades (@AlqassamBrigade) November 14, 2012 The account, which had about 11,000 followers on Thursday, also says Israel's airstrikes are hitting civilians: #Israel's military still targeting civilians in #Gaza kills a child and fourty others #hamas #GazaUnderAttack #Egypt— Alqassam Brigades (@AlqassamBrigade) November 14, 2012 The live updates -- which include some graphic images -- also raise questions for Web companies like Twitter and Google, which owns YouTube, about what content they will allow to be posted to their sites. YouTube briefly removed a video that appeared to show an Israel strike on a car that killed a high-ranking member of Hamas. The company since has restored the video, according to a YouTube spokeswoman. "With the massive volume of videos on our site, sometimes we make the wrong call," the spokeswoman said in an e-mail to CNN. "When it's brought to our attention that a video has been removed mistakenly, we act quickly to reinstate it." The video site has a policy that bans "graphic or gratuitous violence." It makes exceptions, however, for content that has documentary or news value. Others have raised the idea that Twitter should censor the official IDF and Al Qassam Brigades feeds, since they could be viewed as inciting violence. "This clearly puts Twitter in a difficult position. They want to preserve their position as a carrier service that doesn't editorialize," Benedict Evans, from Enders Analysis, told the BBC. "On the other hand, they have terms and conditions that must be adhered to." Twitter did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment. More lasting than the free-speech debate at the tech companies, however, may be the fact that future conflicts will have to include live updates from official military sources, said Ingram, as armies try to spin the public in real time. "If you're an Israeli supporter, your view is that you need to do this because you need to get the information out that you believe isn't reaching people properly because of bias in the media," Ingram said. "And presumably Palestinians believe the same thing." That could have important ramifications. "If the Egyptian government had been doing what the IDF is doing during the Arab Spring, it would have been a very different picture," he said, referring to the activists who used social media to organize protests that toppled Egypt's Hosni Mubarak last year. "Mostly what we got was people on the ground -- participants, dissidents -- because the Egyptian government was clueless." These groups are not clueless when it comes to social media. But their efforts to spin the public may backfire because it can't silence other voices, said Zeynep Tufekci, a fellow at Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy. Tufekci said she's having a hard time opening her Twitter timeline because it's littered with people on the ground who are posting "pictures of mangled children's dead bodies." Those photos -- and tweets from people on the ground who are experiencing the violence -- make the spin-heavy feeds from both sides of the conflict seem "hollow" and distortionist, Tufekci said. She said it's especially jarring because the messages are stacked right on top of each other in her feed. "I really think that the power of social media in such cases is to make real -- and very excruciatingly real, and horrifyingly real -- what war actually looks like," she said. "These (official) Twitter accounts, (from what) I've seen of IDF, they're trying to make it unreal. They're trying to spin it and have PR, and that is really not working because there are so many pictures coming out of the reality of what it looks like." She hopes the graphic tweets will remind the public of the grave consequences for both sides. "It's not a social media war," she said. "It's a real war." if(typeof CNN.expElements==='object'){CNN.expElements.init();}