I was originally interested in reviewing the new guidelines because I saw a tweet last week that said:
"RT @krishgm shock: BBC checking tweets of key presenters before they are published. Trusted to broadcast live but not to tweet!"
Having thoroughly read through the guidelines, this particular requirement is not mentioned in the guidelines and, based on my experience of working with many on-air staff when I was at the BBC, having tweets reviewed is certainly not widespread practice. Indeed, it would be almost impossible to police with many staff tweeting outside office hours and from mobile handsets.
The guidance complements the BBC existing social media strategy which includes the following principles:
• With conversations, participate online; don't "broadcast" messages to users
• Don't bring the BBC into disrepute
• With moderation, only police where we have to; trust our users where we don't
• Be open and transparent in our social media dealings
The guidelines state the the BBC should be:
- Clear as to whether the BBC owns or controls the space, of if it is being used for personal purposes by a member of staff
- Presenter's profiles shouldn't contain a URL or BBC branding if it is for personal purposes
- "A successful BBC microblog is likely to be personal in tone but it must not contain
any personal views which would damage the BBC's reputation, for example over
impartiality. "
- Having a clear editorial strategy for using the service, which ties into the overall editorial strategy for the programme or service
- Could the same effect be achieved on bbc.co.uk?
- Does participating off-piste help to reach a unique demographic?
- What commitment in terms of time and other resources are staff able to put into the proposition?
- How will success be measured and when?
"We should be sensitive to the expectations of existing users of the specific site. If we add a BBC presence, we are joining their site rather than the opposite. Users are likely to feel that they already have a significant stake in it. When adding an informal BBC presence, we should "go with the grain" and be sensitive to user customs and conventions to avoid giving the impression that the BBC is imposing itself on them and their space.
For example, we should respect the fact that users on site X are not our users; they are not bound by the same Terms of Use and House Rules as we apply on BBC Online. Attempts to enforce our standard community rules on third party sites may lead to resentment, criticism and in some cases outright hostility to the BBC's presence.
This is not to say that behaviour likely to cause extreme offence, for example racist insults, should be tolerated by the BBC on a BBC-branded space on a social networking site. It should not. Neither should behaviour which is clearly likely to put a child or teenager at substantial risk of significant harm. But where we do decide to intervene, we will normally need to do so with a light touch, sensitive to different expectations and a different context from BBC Online. "
Moderation of user content, for example comments or images contributed to a flickr group, should be done in line with the third party website's guidelines, and should be undertaken with a light touch. Adding friends should be done with care - casual checks should be made of users profiles before they are added.
The guidelines also discusses using third party sites to advertise for contributors:
"We should only advertise for contributors to factual and factual entertainment programmes as a last resort when other research methods have been exhausted."
This, however, appears to contradict a statement by Peter Horrocks, the Director of the BBC World Service, who last week told the Guardian that "news journalists have been told to use social media as a primary source of information", an activity clearly already being undertaken by the BBC News "User Generated Content Hub" on twitter and elsewhere.
The guidelines are, in my opinion, spot on when it comes to one of the key benefits of using third party services - reaching out to and engaging with new audiences:
"The BBC Social Media strategy relies on the BBC engaging with users on the sites where they go, in the conversations they are having, as well as on BBC Online. This is partly so that users who may consume little or no BBC content can discover for themselves more of what we have to offer. So we should always link back to BBC Online. We can then encourage users to consume more BBC content on our site, for example by accessing long form video content on BBC iPlayer. "
The guidelines also contains sections on dealing with teens, children and other vulnerable people, copyright, and retreat from third party services as the end of activity.
Overall, these are a good set of guidelines which will help BBC staff to make use of third party social networking and blogging platforms. Having a clear set of guidelines, both for the official and personal use of social media is absolutely essential, both because it empowers staff to use such services creatively as well as helps them avoid mistakes that could attract negative attention or harm the brand. I've put together a list of links, on delicious, of similar policies and guidelines at other organisations and businesses.
If you need help coming up with policies and guidelines that both suit your business requirements whilst gaining buy-in from staff, get in touch - it's something we've helped a range of clients do successfully.