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Idea #23: The BBC now owns the twitter account bbc

Written by ianforrester the 24 Feb 09 at 21:48. Related project: Nothing/Others. Status: New
Rationale
The BBC now owns the twitter account bbc but isn't sure what to do with it.

There is a video outlining the problem and some of the solutions.

http://blip.tv/file/1791497

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Solution #1: The BBC should do nothing with it
Written by ianforrester the 24 Feb 09 at 21:48.
Doing nothing will do no harm and could be useful for later when there is a really good worth while idea.
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Solution #2: Create a aggregated view of the best BBC @replies
Written by ianforrester the 24 Feb 09 at 21:50.
Aggregate all the replies across the other BBC accounts and push out the best ones on @bbc
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Solution #3: The Tim O'Reilly approach
Written by thegreatgonzo the 25 Feb 09 at 07:10.
I really like what Tim O'Reilly does with his twitter account, he promotes and re-tweets the best and most important things happening in his sphere. The BBC has a great deal of news and other content that would benefit from promotion plus the combined output of all the already committed twitterers like Rory C-J, bbccouk etc. This would obviously require a significant amount of effort by someone to aggregate and edit.
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Solution #4: "Aggregate" (First, reframe what that means. NOT #2)
Written by artistofideas the 26 Feb 09 at 04:57.
First note that #2 and #3 are kissing cousins -- both are "selections" ... using somewhat different slices of raw data ... mentioning someONE specific to do the "SELECTION" in 3.

"AGGREGATION" is NOT "SELECTION" ... of "THE BEST."

AGGREGATION is ... "some kind of orchestration" ... of common threads ... opinions ... visualizations ... so that WE ALL see ... what WE ALL think.

What we are used to ... is some RANDOM selection of something ... that has been APPROVED by someone ... as "within the pale" of public conversation.

Aggregation ... can produce surprises. Selection ... amplifies the usual suspects.

NOW: How do you DO aggregation? Well, that's a good question. One that that will not be answered in this little box tonight. lol BUT it is the right question. Start there.



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Solution #5: Let's hear it for Mark Thompson!
Written by Morphy_Richards the 27 Feb 09 at 13:25.
The issues raised in the vid and by a very erudite Helge point to what it should not be used for.

Let's share ideas, yes, but also ideas from an opinion leader. It would thus seem obvious that your/our leader should share his ideas, opinions and conjectures - in the spirit of public service, open governance etc.

This would be a great example of pushing an idea upstairs.

Why not?

Mark does not seem to be on Twitter at the moment...
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Solution #6: Use it to post live behind the scenes news
Written by Basem the 24 Mar 09 at 06:16.
For example, if im watching a program such as the news or the cooking shows, i would like to know what happened during the break. Twitter updates can update me on what happened during a break in the news, in a show, or a link can be posted on twitter for more info. All of this can be done realtime. Moreover, with a twitter app i can follow the BBC in with all the info in realtime.

Propose your solution


Duplicates


Comments
helgetenno wrote on the 26 Feb 09 at 17:24
Hi, great question guys, I would like to contribute a two part answer :o)

First:
The debate at the beginning of the video reminded me of this quote by Kevin Rothermel:

“They collect followers on Twitter as proof of how brilliant they are at social media marketing, without realizing the irony that they are just turning their Twitter feed into a broadcast medium that reaches more people than they could possibly hope to have a “relationship” with.”

Why would you turn it into a broadcast medium? Why not use it for something else than what you already know? Digital is turning into a patchwork of smaller ideas for smaller audiences, all tied together. The idea of yet another ONE BIG BBC channel to pour stuff through, to me seems a little un-explorative.

The second point is:
What or why would you need a twitter.com/bbc account? people connect and follow ideas, not names, there has to be something in it. Smaller channels like twitter.com/bbcBackstageIdeaStore as an example has a much greater potential. Help people connect to people, programs, ideas or social objects - not help people subscribe to yet another BBC feed.

The question is this: When Microsoft decided to approach blogging, did they create ONE BIG BLOG, or encourage their employee to create thousands of small ones? I think the same applies to the BBC.

Again great question, and thanks for asking it.

Best regards,
Helge Tennø

ps. And please, call them "twitterers", it gives them context. "Users" don't exist..


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