‘Hello, world’ : GCHQ, Twitter and social media engagement

Ward, SJ, McLoughlin, LDG and Lomas, DWB 2020, '‘Hello, world’ : GCHQ, Twitter and social media engagement' , Intelligence and National Security, 35 (2) , pp. 233-251.

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Abstract

In May 2016, Britain’s signals intelligence agency the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) joined the social media platform Twitter with the message ‘Hello, world’. For an agency once seen as the UK’s ‘most secret’, GCHQ’s moved to social media received significant attention from the press and other social media, often resulting in ridicule or clichés around the ‘Big Brother’ state. But why the move and what has been the impact? Can GCHQ’s use of Twitter provide lessons for other agencies considering adopting this method? The article suggests that, while certainly welcome, and allowing the agency to reach out to a new tech-savvy generation of potential recruits, while questioning stereotypes of what GCHQ does, efforts towards openness can only go so far and sometimes stoke and amplify conspiracy theories affecting issues such as brand identity.

Item Type:	Article
Schools:	Schools > School of Arts & Media > Arts, Media and Communication Research Centre
Journal or Publication Title:	Intelligence and National Security
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
ISSN:	0268-4527
Related URLs:	Publication
Depositing User:	SJ Ward
Date Deposited:	06 Jan 2020 11:16
Last Modified:	05 Feb 2020 11:15
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/56165

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