Thursday 15 March 2012

Social Enterprise: The BBC Updates it’s Guidelines & Takes A Big Leap Forward

This post first appeared on WhatWorksWhere.com where I have recently started occasional guest-blogging.
BBC News’ latest iteration of its Social Media Guidelines suggests the organisation is serious about moving towards becoming a truly Social Enterprise, or as Sunny Hundal candidly puts it, “social media or death”, though clarifying that with the caveat that he may be paraphrasing.
Joking aside, the guidelines state very clearly that “Understanding social media is not an optional extra for modern journalists and programme makers.” Some producers and journalists may now be checking the terms of their contract, but the savvier staff will be taking advantage of the training that BBC News has on offer.
The guidelines demonstrate a clear commitment from BBC News to provide its social media communities with quality content. “League tables” will be used to weed the weak posts from the strong, these posts will be judged by user engagement – Likes, comments and shares on Facebook, re-tweets and replies on Twitter.
The “native” post requirement is key to ensuring cross-platform quality – If you are writing a post for a BBC News Twitter account, you compose it for Twitter. Do not cross-post to Facebook and vice-versa.
This latest set of social media guidelines from the BBC provides a breath of fresh air after the restrictions recently placed on their news staff.
Have you read the latest BBC News social media guidelines, what do you think? Is it a step in the right direction, have they been drafted by somebody you would trust to produce your organisation’s social media guidelines?