Department of Defense to invest millions in 'Twitter tracking'

According to Time, the U.S. Department of Defense is working on a new initiative to track information -- and misinformation -- across the Twittersphere, in order to collect valuable intelligence.

Though this new initiative will focus on social media as a whole, from citizen journalism through to publicly available content from social networks, it is believed to focus mostly on Twitter as a goldmine of potential intelligence.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a subsidiary of the Department of Defense, spends millions on weapons development to major technological breakthroughs.

DARPA's latest initiative -- prepare for another glorious acronym -- is the SMISC, the Social Media in Strategic Communications project, designed to "develop a new science of social networks built on an emerging technology base".

The project has four objectives, as set out by DARPA:

1. Detect, classify, measure and track the (a) formation, development and spread of ideas and concepts (memes), and (b) purposeful or deceptive messaging and misinformation.
2. Recognise persuasion campaign structures and influence operations across social mediasites and communities.
3. Identify participants and intent, and measure effects of persuasion campaigns.
4. Counter messaging of detected adversary influence operations.

It was Twitter, granted unbeknown to the user, which was used in the reporting of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Revolutions during the Arab Spring were spurred on by social media, and in some cases instigated the mass uprising of citizens' against their governments.

The activities on Twitter and the impact it can have on democracy and world events is enough to spook -- excuse the pun -- the U.S. government.

Costing up to $42 million, it will take quite a chunk out of the defense budget. It also appears, from point 4, that the project is looking at ways of countering the mass-effects of tweeting information; almost like 'playing telephone' on a vast scale.

As one publication put it: "Big Brother just signed up for a Facebook account".

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• Wikileaks: How the diplomatic cables sparked the 2011 Arab Revolutions
• Osama bin Laden killed: Twitter's moment? Um no.
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