The U.S. Army is developing a new policy for service members who have built substantial social media followings, aiming to leverage their reach while maintaining a hands-off approach to content oversight, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth announced.

According to Military.com, the initiative comes as some individual soldiers command larger online audiences than the Army’s official channels. 

For comparison, National Guard recruiter Sgt. 1st Class Tyler Butterworth has accumulated more than 2 million Instagram followers, while the Army’s official recruiting page maintains fewer than 73,000 followers.

“The Army doesn’t have a policy on social media engagement; it’s sorta the wild west,” Wormuth said in a statement. “What I don’t want to do is [for] it to become an Army reg that tightens things so much that it sucks the life out of their posts.”

The policy development process includes direct consultation with current military influencers. Service planners recently met with Army content creators to gather feedback on potential guidelines. The resulting framework is expected to provide basic parameters while giving commanders discretion over what constitutes appropriate content.

The initiative addresses several challenges in military recruitment and communication. Current federal regulations prohibit paid advertising on TikTok, a platform heavily used by Gen Z, creating obstacles for traditional recruiting efforts. Additionally, the Army’s marketing still relies substantially on conventional TV advertising, which has shown limited effectiveness with younger audiences.

Monetization and political content remain key considerations in policy development. Defense Department rules restrict service members from using their uniforms for personal gain, and political commentary by active duty personnel faces additional scrutiny.

The Army has already begun informal collaborations with high-profile service members. During this month’s Association of the United States Army conference, Green Beret and National Guard member Tim Kennedy worked alongside Gen. Randy George, the Army’s top officer, and Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer, producing social media content about military announcements.

Butterworth, known for family-friendly content, reports receiving “thousands of messages” inquiring about military service across all branches. 

“I realized that social media is a very effective tool to help with recruiting, and that’s kind of why I started it in the beginning,” he told Military.com.

In July, NATO invited 26 content creators from various countries to its Washington summit to bolster public support in light of discussions about U.S. defense spending in Europe and address disinformation and misinformation that spread quickly on social media platforms.