Luttrell's Use of Social Media to Promote His Ideas

In the current age, the social media platforms including Facebook, Tweeter, WhatsApp, and Instagram have become important platforms through which individuals interact with the global community. The disclosed information through social media has the potential of changing the general public conception of issues that are pertinent to the understanding of the past and current circumstances. Marcus Luttrell is among the people who have used the changing nature of the social media to convey his ideas about the struggle of military officers in the battlefields and give his views about different issues in the contemporary society (Sahlin, 2015). Some of his areas of focus include public governance, military operations, politics and social values in the army. In his social media, Luttrell recaptures the frustrations that come with being a member of combat, castigates free media reporting in the army, and instils a sense of patriotism among the military.

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Marcus Luttrell Use of the Social Media to Promote His Ideas

In his Tweeter account, Luttrell invokes the spirit of patriotism and the need to uphold lessons from the war. One of his Twitter messages he recounted the sights of Innocent Americans hurt and killed by two assailant Muslim brothers. Despite his share of grief with the bereaved families and the souls of the dead friends, he asserts that such occurrences are necessary to remember (Sahlin, 2015). Though he uses the tweet as an expression of courage in remorse, the message inspires the society to look constructively at war. In essence, he invokes the society and military to avoid a defeatist mentality whenever conflicts erupt. In essence, Lutrell indirectly provides a critical insight for the police departments to use the experiences in war for the establishment of best mechanisms to safeguard the civilians and property (Scarred, 2017). Though the information content of his Tweet is comforting as well as informative, he does not present it clearly (Ainin & Naqshbandi, 2014). The social media information often requires clarity, explicitness and precision since uses do not always subject them to in-depth analysis.

Despite the fact that Luttrell upholds democracy as a tenet of a progressive society, he seems the role that a liberal media plays in the situations of war. For instance, in one instance, he reminisces the liberal nature of the American media that exposes soldiers to public attack despite the difficult conditions in which they work (Scarred, 2017). He uses the social media as a tool to vent his perceptions without necessarily fearing criticism. He knows the freedom that the media enjoys but still does not rescind from pointing out their errors. Luttrell criticizes the mainstream media for its role in exposing the solders excessively thus undermining the principle of secrecy which is necessary in military practice. Despite the fact that his ideas on the shortcomings of a liberal media, Lutrell ought to avoid delving into issues likely to cause polarised perceptions (Girard & Girard, 2011). The social media is mostly unregulated. Therefore, it provides a way through which one can express their deepest feelings but this should be done with restraint to avoid arousing tensions especially on critical issues such as the freedom of the media in a democratic America.

As the only survivor in his military group in Afghanistan, Luttrell uses the media to show his stand on the need to restore the safety of the American community even in the face of increased terrorist attacks. He used the social media, especially Facebook to show his support for Presidential aspirant Donald Trump in his bid to succeed President Obama (Drabol, 2016). He overcomes the negative media portrayal of Donal Trump to mobilize openly support for his candidature. On one of his Facebook posts, Luttrell said that he had spent the Father's Day with Republican presidential nominee, Trump, and Perry in Texas. Lutrell expressed his support for president Trump in 2016 and tried to convince the public that he was the ideal candidate for the post (Drabol, 2016).

In 2015, Marcus Luttrell joined the social media discussion urging President Obama to lower the national flag in honour of the five service members killed in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Under the then trending hashtag #lowertheflag, he posted, Oh one more thing, lower the FLAG! Sir." Furthermore, in response to the directives for the Marine recruiters not to wear their uniforms for their personal security, he castigated the idea behind such a move and reminded the state security agencies of the need to underscore the ideals of military service (Gore, 2015). In his tweeter post, he argued that the Marines are not trained to quit. He tweeted that no one should ever think that the Marine could take off their uniform just because of their personal security. He further reiterated that quitting and becoming excessively precautionary is never the best way of responding in the military . He rejuvenated the selflessness that comes with military service when he underscored his assertions by stating, When we get hit, we don't take off our uniforms, drop our (weapons) and run.

Marcus Luttrell uses the social media as a transformative tool in the current society as opposed to the common trend in which people use the methods to advance selfish interests (Gore, 2015). His stance is representative of a broader societal need that supersedes narrow mindedness. For instance, unlike many human rights activist groups and critics of the United States incursion into Afghanistan and Iraq, Luttrell still inspires the soldiers against relenting in their war to safeguard humanity, especially the Americans whom they vowed to protect during their recruitment to the forces (Gore, 2015). In essence, the former lieutenant gives the real sense of military service, which is to protect the lives of the populace even if it means losing an individual life. Within this context, Luttrell advances the sense of patriotism that is inherent in combat life. He uses his story as a basis for drawing the motivation for soldiers to promote the interest of America even at war without undue retraction until the enemy is eventually destroyed (Girard & Girard, 2011).

In one sense, the retired soldier uses the social media to ventilate on some of the issues that impede effective combat such as negative media in the US. While recounting the dilemma they experienced in the hands of the Taliban terrorist in which he was the only survivor, He exposes the fact that the media jeopardizes the effectiveness of operations by keeping every detail of their activities on the spotlight even in cases when the soldiers have to ensure their safety (Gore, 2015). Nonetheless, even with the evidence of military life replete with various risks, Luttrell remains optimistic in the course of war. He implores the serving military men and women not to become so sensitive to the risks that their career poses to their lives but rather asks them to remain steadfast (Sahlin, 2015). For instance, he reminded the US Marines that the enormity of the task requires selflessness even with personal life.

In his social media comments about Lone Survivor, Luttrell brilliantly captures the horrific aspects of combat as well as the ennobling side of war such as a way of affirming nationhood (Gore, 2015). Furthermore, he advances the idea that the soldiers also have a sense of humanity, unlike the familiar concepts that often portray them as antisocial and brutal people. In the heroic tributes to the fallen colleagues in Afghanistan, Luttrell expressed the deep love that defines the type of relationship that combatants feel for one another. He is a character who unrelentingly illuminates the moral ambiguities of combat and the existence of humanity in some of the darkest of places such as the war front where Afghans rescued him from the marauding Taliban militia.

Conclusion

Marcus Luttrell used the social media as a means of inspiring the colleague solders in service, recapturing his patriotic life as a military, and providing a constructive criticism of free media in covering cases of military activity especially in the battlefields. Furthermore, he used the social media as a means of reminding the public of critical challenges that the soldiers undergo while attempting to ensure their security within and outside the boundaries of their countries. Though he advances conservative political ideologies as evident in his open support of President Trump, he does not compromise on the need to ensure public support to the military and the commitment of soldiers to their career and the risks that come with it. Despite the fact that Lutrell captures some of the issues, which are important in a progressive society, he seems inconsiderate of the fact that his ideas do not reflect the general feels of the populace. In practice, it is advisable that social media users avoid controversial issues such as freedom of the media. Furthermore, he ought to be precise in giving is perceptions about some of the critical issues in the society such as the need for public support of the public servants.

References

Ainin, S., & Naqshbandi, M. M. (2014). Social media: Dynamism, issues, and challenges.

Drabold W. (Jul 18, 2016). Meet the Navy SEAL Speaking In Support of Donald Trump at the RNC. (2017). Time.com. Retrieved 24 May 2017, from http://time.com/4411598/marcus-luttrell-rnc-donald-trump/Girard, J. P., & Girard, J. A. L. (2011). Social knowledge: Using Social Media To Know What You Know. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Gore L. (July 21, 2015). 'Lone Survivor' Marcus Luttrell to Obama: 'Lower the flag, sir'. (2017). AL.com. Retrieved 24 May 2017, from http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/07/lone_survivor_marcus_luttrell.htmlSahlin, J. P. (2015). Social media and the transformation of interaction in society. Hershey, PA : Information Science Reference

Scarred W. (2017). Retrieved 24 May 2017, from http://www.thedailybeast.com/the-hero-project/articles/2013/10/30/navy-seal-marcus-luttrell-survived-the-taliban-but-his-struggle-was-just-starting.htm