A KC-135 waits to be de-iced as a storm brews above Manas Airbase. Photo by Raskar Kapak, Creative Commons usage.

The 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs Office hopes that joining to the Twitter social network will help the world to know more about the base’s goings on, reports the United States Airforce’s own press service (ENG).

I believe it is in our best interest to get on board. Twitter, as well as some of the other social engineering sites, is a great way to tell people about our mission and people, Maj. Rickardo Bodden, 376th AEW public affairs officer said.

Our new media means of communication will reach new audiences and keep people informed who we otherwise might not have been able to reach,  he said.

For those readers living under a rock (or parts of Kyrgyzstan :p ), Twitter is one of the many free social network service jet streams, which enables users to disperse quick, 140-word or less, messages that are texted to “followers” or those who choose to receive information from a source variety in the millions.

Of course, one question is which audience are they hoping to reach?  No Kyrgyz Twitters, that much is probably for sure.  But reaching out to family and friends back home in the USA is also problematic.  Who will be allowed to Twitter, regular soldiers on the base or only the official press office?  How does the military plan to regulate what’s twitted?  The idea may be silly, but the ramifications are not

(The official site of Manas Air Base is www.manas.afcent.af.mil.  The 376th AEW’s Twitter can be found at www.twitter.com/manasab.)