BBC’s Social Media Push Mirrors The Private Sector Shift

by George Dearing on February 19, 2010 · View Comments

in Business, C-Suite, Digital Strategy, Journalism, Media, New Media, Newspapers, Real-time, Social Media, Tools, Web 2.0, Word of Mouth (WoM)

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How can anyone really think using community and curation tools won’t be a boon to media companies and publishers? The ones that get it are already committed to establishing better ways of sharing and collaborating, baking that mindset into every part of the business.

Not so long ago every pundit preached “community” this and “community” that (me included).  Sure that’s a part of it, but in less than a few years, things like Twitter, Google Buzz and a newsier Facebook have forced private and public institutions alike to look outside of their comfy websites and community hubs.  Brands and online publishers realize the conversations happening in other online environments and niches can often overshadow much of the activity taking place on their own web properties.

The BBC’s recent statements underscore much of the shift taking place not only in media outfits but in corporations, where internal and external teams are scrambling for the right mix of engagement and listening.

"For BBC news editors, Twitter and RSS readers are to become essential tools, says Horrocks. Aggregating and curating content with attribution should become part of a BBC journalist’s assignment; and BBC’s journalists have to integrate and listen to feedback for a better understanding of how the audience is relating to the BBC brand."
Shifting Roles and Perceived Priorities
 
The other thing you’ll see as the aforementioned scrambling takes place is a shifting of skill sets and even roles. Most companies don’t need a social media director, they just need their own employees to rally around their own assets. Or another way to put it. What’s important to organizations is understanding how to scale what’s already right under their noses.
 
Knowledge, customers, alliances – all the things that make a business a business – are what all of us have to become better at promoting and publicizing. Most companies need a good communications playbook way more than they need any technology, media plan or whiz-bang strategist.

And somewhere between the analysis paralysis and the trip to the CFO’s office lies the epiphany that you and your company can do this stuff. You see, you’ve been talking to customers all along and you pay people to make sure they’re happy with your product or service. What you haven’t been so focused on is helping them understand it’s ok to connect with them in other environments, around the global water cooler, if you will.

As the social web and 2.0 mindset fades into the fabric of business, the things corporations will ultimately cling to will be collective wisdom, innovation and the desire to make a difference. That’s more than a skill set. That’s passion and that’s willingness to change.
 
via guardian.co.uk
 

 

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