Marines did not ban social networking

Marines and Social Nets: We Goofed

Complete story here: http://whatsbrewin.nextgov.com/2009/08/marines_and_social_nets_we_goo.php

By Bob Brewin 08/07/09 05:27 pm ET
Despite more than 1,000 news reports to the contrary, the Marine Corps did NOT ban access to social network sites this week.

In fact, in a statement, the Marine Corps said, "Marines are encouraged to tell their stories on social networking sites, using personal accounts, remembering the importance of operational security and that they are Marines at all times."

So, how did news sites around the world, including Nextgov, erroneously report the Marines had banned access to sites such as such as Twitter, YouTube and MySpace?

The simple answer is that the collective "we" -- myself and all the other digit stained wretches who reported on the supposed ban -- were guilty of herd mentality, following and believing the Associated Press story linked above.