A Look At How Social Media Is Being Used To Cover The Fight Against The Islamic State

#Iraq's ISOF Lt. Omar Naji, who hails from #Mosul, taking a selfie immediately following an IED explosion. (via @thestevennabil) #MosulOps pic.twitter.com/x0uctyetBK

— Bin Maymun (@BinMaymun) November 1, 2016

The Independent: Mosul battle: How the fight against Isis is being reported through victory selfies and Facebook statuses

New trend in frontline ‘victory selfies’ and videos make war more immediate than ever before, providing Iraqi civilians with live updates on frontline action.

When the battle to retake Mosul from Isis began last month, many were unnerved by the idea that the war was being livestreamed through Facebook.

While the feed is no different from live broadcast news, the ability to send reaction emoticons as pictures of tanks roll through the Nineveh plains is a decidedly 21st-century development in how we understand conflict.

The fight against Isis may look strange broadcast via Facebook Live to those far away but for Iraqis close to the fighting, soldiers on the ground posting to social media is often beating traditional news sources as their first port of call for what’s happening.

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WNU Editor: For those who have loved ones on the front .... social media must be a Godsend for those who are worried 24/7 .... as well as for the general public who are near the fighting. I know when the Ukraine war broke out .... social media was the number media tool used by everyone in the region to understand what was happening ..... and in many cases these social media posts were far more up-to-date and accurate than what was being reported by traditional news media outlets.