With the diversity and complexity of contents and forms of communication, the current situation of using social networks shows that each individual must have certain skills. Therefore, improving behavioural skills on social networks for Youth Union (union) cadres within the Military is an urgent requirement today so that they can maintain and promote the leading role in gathering and guiding union members and young people to have cultural behaviour and healthy lifestyle.

Currently, social networks have become a communication and entertainment tool used by many people, especially the youth. An individual can log in many social networking sites with his/her real or anonymous name through various accounts and establish wide and diverse relationships all over the world without being limited by space, time, race, age, gender, education, occupation, etc. Besides the pros, such as: rich information, social interaction, friend acquaintance, job opportunities, and propitious business, contributing to creating new values, boosting the economy, and promoting education, training and other fields of social life, social networks also cause many cons, especially manifestations of deviant behaviour. This requires social network participants to have skills to behave in a cultured manner and in accordance with the law.

In the Viet Nam People’s Army, union cadres are mainly officers, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, most of them are young people with high demand for using social networks. However, due to military regulations and environment, cadres, union members and young people within the Military do not have much time to use social networks, but they are being affected quite comprehensively by these sites with mixed positives and negatives. In addition to useful knowledge in various fields, such as: available information, connection and interaction in union activities at anytime, anywhere, the drawbacks of social networks also negatively affect the contingent of cadres, union members, young people within the Military, especially the contents compiled by  hostile forces and reactionary elements  aimed at opposing the Party, State, and the Military , etc. In fact, the activities on social networks of cadres, union members, young people within the Military basically ensures compliance with regulations. However, a small number of them still show limitations, especially in communication skills, such as making objectionable comments, posting misleading pictures, using inappropriate language, and so forth.

Being fully aware of that, over the past time, units and union organizations in the whole Military have taken many forms and measures to enhance behavioural skills on social networks for union members in general and union cadres in particular and achieved certain results. However, the effectiveness is not high and stable enough. Therefore, improving behavioural skills on social networks for union cadres in the Military is now an objective requirement as well as critical measure to maintain and promote the leading role in gathering and guiding union members to behave in a cultured manner and spread a healthy lifestyle, contributing to building a revolutionary, regular, highly-skilled, gradually modernised Viet Nam People’s Army. Within the scope of the article, a number of solutions are proposed as follows.

First, party committees, political commissars, commanders, political agencies, and union executive committees at all levels should strengthen their leadership and direction on training and improving behavioural skills on social networks for union cadres. This is a decisive solution to the quality and effectiveness of union work in general, and the improvement of behavioural skills on social networks for union cadres in the Military in particular. Accordingly, party committees, commanders and political agencies need to focus their leadership and direction on identifying the training and enhancement of behavioural skills in a cultured manner on social networks of union cadres and members as a key task of union organizations. The union executive committees must base on their higher echelon’s resolutions, directives and instructions and the resolutions at their own level to put training and fostering work into their plan. Furthermore, significance needs to be attached to organizing forces properly and regularly checking the plan implementation seriously. Political commissars and commanders in agencies and units, who are basically qualified and experienced in life, need to promote their responsibility and grasp the trends of the youth and the development of social networks in order to orient union cadres and members towards a code of behaviour on social networks. Simultaneously, this contingent needs to set an exemplary model in their activities on social networks, such as: strictly following the regulations of speech, not using social networks to exploit and propagate unverified or one-sided information for union cadres and members to follow.

Second, intensify political and ideological education and law dissemination for union cadres is an important content to ensure their political orientation. Doing so ensures that this contingent will be fully aware of their rights, obligations and responsibilities when participating in social networks and clearly understand correct implementation of the law, contributing to the protection of national network security. First of all, it is necessary to educate union cadres to see their responsibility for understanding social network environment, both its positive and negative aspects. Although it is complex and “virtual”, union cadres cannot ignore it for the sake of the safety. In contrast, due regard must be paid attention to strengthen education on Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s thought, the Party’s guidelines, the State’s policies and law, the resolutions, directives and instructions of the Central Military Commission, Ministry of National Defence, General Political Department, and the tasks of the Military and units. By this way, union cadres will establish concrete worldview, methodology, and theoretical foundation to properly handle information on social networks. At the same time, great weight should be added to educating union cadres on the Cyber security Law and well implementing the Code of Conduct on social networks issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications in order to behave in accordance with our ethical values, culture and traditions. Accordingly, it is not allowed to use hate speech and post content that violates the law and information that affects organizations and individuals’ legitimate rights and interests. Moreover, union cadres must not use offensive language, spread fake news, and provide illegal business. Along with that, it is essential to encourage union cadres and members to use social networks to propagate beautiful lands, good people and culture of Viet Nam and share positive information and “good people, good deeds” examples.

Third, diversify the contents, forms and methods of training behavioural skills on social networks for union cadres. The purpose of this solution is to create conditions and opportunities for union cadres to practice behavioural skills on social networks with the contents and forms corresponding to different scopes and scales. This not only helps union cadres to acquire knowledge and skills in a positive and creative way, but also creates favourable conditions for them to have practical experiences in cyberspace. Therefore, the contents, forms, and methods of training must be specific and diverse, for instance: organizing exchange sessions on social networks, opening training courses and seminars, founding associations, groups and clubs, technical and consulting teams through the arrangement of union cadres to join specialized forces of units to fight against wrong views of hostile forces. Thereby, union cadres will be equipped with necessary skills when participating in social networks, such as: skills in interacting with and making friends, in listening and sharing, in making comments, in blocking virtual accounts and spammers, in checking and securing information, and in dealing with public opinion and overcoming crises on social networks.

Fourth, raise the awareness and self-discipline of union cadres in cultivating ethic qualities and improving their qualifications in all aspects to serve as a basis for training behavioural skills on social networks. Ethics is considered as the basic factor to adjust human behaviour voluntarily towards the values of truth, goodness and beauty. On social networks, the cadres with good ethics and qualifications will be an important foundation for appropriate behaviour. Therefore, each union cadre needs to regularly improve their political willpower, revolutionary ethic qualities, qualifications, and capacity for critical thinking and argument. It is also vital for union cadres to be enthusiastic and determined to defend the Party, Marxism-Leninism, and Ho Chi Minh’s thought. To that end, these cadres must develop their own plans to increase their knowledge and skills on social networks in a specific and scientific manner. Party committees and commanders of agencies and units need to create conditions for union cadres to cultivate their ethics and improve their qualifications in all aspects. Additionally, value should be attached to accelerating the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics and lifestyle, carrying out the Campaign titled Promoting tradition, devoting talents, deserving to be “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” in the new period in association with the implementation of the 4^th Central Resolution (12^th tenure) on building, rectifying the Party and building a pure and strong political system. It is also required to executing the regulations on role model-setting responsibility and the regulations on things that party members are not allowed to do so as to create a favourable environment for union cadres to train and study. In parallel with that, it is necessary to build a healthy cultural environment in each unit, creating conditions and cultural space to detect and filter the negative impacts of social networks, prevent malicious cultural elements from affecting union cadres at all levels.

Improving behavioural skills on social networks for union cadres within the Military requires the participation of all-level party committees, key cadres, political agencies, and union executive committees. Therefore, it is necessary to have leadership, direction and organization to effectively implement the above solutions to help union cadres “behave” in a standard way, maintain the union leading role on social networks, contributing to successfully accomplish assigned tasks of their agencies and units.

Senior Colonel DO KHAC CAN – Major DAO MINH DUNG, Office of the General Political Department