My primary research question is: can social networks assist analysts fight terrorism? My secondary research questions are as follows. First, how does social networking create linkages? Second, how have social networks been used to solve small problems? Third, how have social networks been used to enact large-scale changes? My literature review incorporates theories concerning the growth of organizations and the power of focused applications of mass input. Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom describe the power of leaderless organizations. Clay Shirky champions the power of crowdsourcing to solve large complex problems. David Meerman Scott demonstrates how to cause world-changing reactions via social media. My methodology is a collective case study. My research incorporates the prevailing ideas, best practices, and real-world examples of applications of social networks to produce a desired effect. My research is very reliant upon real-world examples. While still under review, my initial conclusion is quite definitive. Social networks can assist analysts fight terrorism. While most evolutionary changes are impossible to see by the affected population due to its slow-moving, imperceptible growth, one only has to look at Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya to see the immediate effects of social networks.

ADA 559599 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)