The war in Iraq is not only taken place on the battle ground anymore. Many Iraqis share share social networking pages related to military operations. Iraqis on Facebook circulated a now popular video of "Abu Azrael", a member of the Imam Ali Brigades who is part of the Popular Mobilization Units(PMU). The video turned him into an idolized icon or symbol of the shitte fighters struggle against the Islamic State(IS).
According to Al-Monitor, Falah al-Shami a writer for the al-Mustakbal newspaper, commented on Abu Azrael’s emergence as a popular hero, arguing that it “stems from an urgent need in the community, as he is the first figure to lead in the [current] fighting.” Shami told Al-Monitor, “It is thanks to the youth on the social networking sites that Abu Azrael emerged.
Ali Wajih spends about 8 hours a day doing citizen journalistic work on his Facebook page. He has about 80,000 followers on Facebook and is an avid supporter of the PMU. “The Iraqi media has not lived up to the [magnitude of the] battle yet. The war that is being fought on social networking sites has affected the Iraqi street and lifted its spirits, unlike many satellite TV channels and local newspapers, which broadcast news causing frustration in the community, says Ali Wajih.
Rida Shammari, editor of the Al-Mada Press believes that "the war against IS on social-networking is not enough. Posts and activity shared on networking sites won't reach the same level of professionalism of the IS propaganda".
According to Hishan al-Hashemi, an expert on terrorist groups, "IS supporters follow many of the anti IS accounts on social networking sites including twitter". They do this in order to monitor the accuracy of the information posted and they also try to obtain security information that will be beneficial to the IS cadres.