Is Social Media The Key To ISIS Success?

[CJCRANE]

“Isil’s widespread use of social media and growing online support intensified following the commencement of US air strikes in Iraq,” Comey, using another acronym for the group, said in prepared testimony for a congressional hearing on threats to the US homeland.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/17/isis-hostages-us-concessions-fbi-warns


It seems like ISIS is the most successful terrrorist organization in history and has managed to attract recruits from all over the world.

But I wonder if social media like Facebook and Twitter have made this unprecedented success possible?

With social media it's now very easy to link up with likeminded people and organize and recruit people to your cause.

I have personal experience of this because I stumbled across a Jihadi supporters' group on Facebook which had thousands of followers and openly posted Pro-Jihadi pictures, messages and comments. They supported the Syrian rebels and also groups in Mali, Somalia etc.

I found it about eighteen months ago so I've been aware of their ideology and propaganda for quite a while. It's been quite frustrating to watch the events of the past eighteen months unfold while politicians ignored these social media breeding grounds.

Politcians acted as though these groups appeared out of the blue but they have been growing under the radar of the MSM but quite openly and seemingly unrestricted on social media.

I also think that Turkey's open border policy of allowing a pipeline of fighters into Iraq and Syria also exacerbated the problem on the ground in those countries but the fighters most likely used social media to get initial contacts and communicate with each other.

[CJCRANE]

1. Any thoughts on this?