Presentation to AoIR 2007.

1. Title, Author, Affiliation, Occasion
Loosing the Topic and Purpose
Blogs of War
Opening
Theory&Method
Battle for Truth
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions

2. Title, Author, Affiliation, Occasion
Loosing the Topic and Purpose
Blogs of War
Opening
Theory&Method
Battle for Truth
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions

3. Rhetorical Situation
Loosing the Milblog Search Engine
Blogs of War
Opening
Theory&Method
Battle for Truth
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions
Rhetorical situation: “a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or
potential exigence which can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced into the
situation, can so constrain human decision or action so as to bring about significant modification of the
exigence.”
Exigence: “an imperfection marked by urgency; it is a defect, obstacle, something waiting to be done,
a thing which is other than it should be.”
Constraints: “persons, events, objects, and relations which…have the power to constrain decision
and action needed to modify the exigence.”
Issue: “the articulation of a perceived choice of belief or action… [T]he exigence…is the ground from
which potential issues arise.”

4. Rhetorical Situation
Loosing the Milblog Search Engine
Blogs of War
Opening
Theory&Method
Battle for Truth
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions
44 milblogs
searched
“army (regulations OR restrictions OR ban) AND (milblogs OR milblogging OR blogging)”

5. Beginnings of the Controversy
Loosing the The Exigence and Issue According to the Army
Blogs of War The Exigence and Issue According to the Milbloggers
Opening
Theory&Method
Battle for Truth
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions

6. Beginnings of the Controversy
Loosing the The Exigence and Issue According to the Army
Blogs of War The Exigence and Issue According to the Milbloggers
Opening
Theory&Method
Battle for Truth
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions

7. Beginnings of the Controversy
Loosing the The Exigence and Issue According to the Army
Blogs of War The Exigence and Issue According to the Milbloggers
Opening
Theory&Method
Battle for Truth
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions

8. Beginnings of the Controversy
Loosing the The Exigence and Issue According to the Army
Blogs of War The Exigence and Issue According to the Milbloggers
Opening
Theory&Method
Battle for Truth
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions

9. Information Warfare as Discourse Tradition and Constraint
Loosing the
Blogs of War
Opening
Theory&Method
Battle for Truth
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions

10. Exigences, Issues, and Motivations
Loosing the Speakers, Audiences, and Identities
Blogs of War Discourse Traditions as Constraints
Opening
Theory&Method
Battle for Truth
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions
VS

11. Exigences, Issues, and Motivations
Loosing the Speakers, Audiences, and Identities
Blogs of War Discourse Traditions as Constraints
Opening
Theory&Method
Battle for Truth
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions

12. Exigences, Issues, and Motivations
Loosing the Speakers, Audiences, and Identities
Blogs of War Discourse Traditions as Constraints
Opening
Theory&Method
New situations do not necessarily lead to new responses.
Battle for Truth
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions Milbloggers have constructed their activities in terms that are
more universal than the regulations to which they are subject.

13. For Scholars of the Military
Loosing the For Scholars of New Media, Information, and Communication Technologies
Blogs of War
Opening
Theory&Method
Civil-military relations
Battle for Truth
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions Military doctrine and theory
“On-the-ground” view of new media/ICTs/InfoAge in military
Milblogs as site of military knowledge production

14. For Scholars of the Military
Loosing the For Scholars of New Media, Information, and Communication Technologies
Blogs of War
Opening
Theory&Method
Battle for Truth Online community formation
InfoWar Tradition
Analysis
Conclusions
“Passionate labor,” “crowd sourcing,” voluntarism