Marines Find Friends and Recruits on the Internet

July 25, 2006 — -- Ask any users of popular social networking sites and they will tell you more friends equals more status. In a new effort to encourage enlistments, the Marine Corps Recruiting Command recently joined the "friends" race by creating its own user profile on the world's largest networking site, MySpace.com. And after five months online, the Marines already appear to be winning hearts and minds.

The Marines' decision to create its own Internet profile comes as part of a wider effort to use the Internet as a tool for finding new recruits. "We're always looking for new and innovative ways to reach the target audience," said Maj. Wes Hayes, spokesman for the Marines Corps Recruiting Command.

This effort entails spending $1 million a year on banners and profiles linked on popular sites like sportingnews.com and gamespot.com.

In February recruiters decided to extend their efforts by turning to the increasingly popular Internet networking sites.

MySpace now generates more traffic than any other site on the Web, with a demographic largely made up of teenagers and people in their 20s.

With the Marines seeking to attract exactly these age groups, the online profile offers enough information to spark interest, including a tab that encourages visitors to "Contact a Recruiter."

So far, the Marines have gathered more than 12,000 "friends," generated 437 responses and 173 leads. A lead results when an applicant fits the target age and meets the medical and educational standards. These numbers are likely to grow given the Marine Corps expanding "friends" list.

Profiles Help Support Our Troops

While the Marines' Web profile is relatively new in the world of online networking, America's defense forces already enjoy unofficial support from current soldiers and members of the Internet community.

Before the creation of the official Marine Corps profile, MySpace already contained more than 1,500 groups dedicated to supporting the Marines, while online contender Facebook.com also included many similar entries.

"We have networks for all branches of the military," said Chris Hughes, a spokesman for Facebook.com. "Members of the armed services are coming online to make their own groups."

Unlike MySpace, Facebook does not allow businesses or agencies to create official profiles, but soldiers and their supporters have created their own groups to champion the military's cause. Many encourage the public to contact group members about life in the military and often provide links to recruitment Web sites.

"They're some of the fastest-growing networks on the site," said Hughes.

In the last two months, Facebook expanded to include military and other e-mail addresses that had not previously had access to the site. The result has been a wave of pro-military groups.

A Computer Call to Arms

The use of MySpace as a recruiting tool comes on the heels of the Army's past success using computer games.

In July 2002, the Army released a first-person combat simulator called America's Army. Debuting on Independence Day, the game could be downloaded for free. After hauling in several million downloads, the project was hailed a huge success and paved the way for other innovative ideas for computer-based recruitment.

"It's very cost effective," said Francois Boo, a research analyst at GlobalSecurity.org, a military think tank. But he said more important considerations are at hand. "If potential recruits are spending time at computers rather than malls, they [recruiters] need to go where potential soldiers are going to be."

With younger generations increasingly turning to computers as a means of networking, the military seems to be on the right track to finding suitable candidates. And who knows? After the Marine Corps' quick success in posting its profile, maybe it will become the coolest kid on the block.