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davelee21

Listed below are comments made by davelee21 between Thursday, 21st May 2009 and Thursday, 11th June 2009.

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Jason DaPonte answering your questions live at 4pm 5:15pm on 11 Jun 2009 Hi mydogminton

Perhaps http://twitter.com/#search?q=bbccouk will give you what you're after.
Video: BBCiPlayer on N95 12:00pm on 11 Jun 2009 Thanks for the questions everyone -- we'll be putting them to the Mobile team throughout the day. Stay tuned. Also, if you're on Twitter, Jason DaPonte (Managing editor, Mobile) will be taking questions on there from about 4pm. Follow @bbccouk for updates.
Microblogging the Editorial Policy Meeting 2:07pm on 29 May 2009 I'm not for a moment saying Twitter should replace official lines of communication between our audiences and staff.

But think of it this way. Do you always complain if something doesn't work? Increasingly we're seeing that rather than complain, people will just do something else and try it again later.

Sometimes -- especially with something like the iPlayer -- people lay technical blame on their own computer, or their ISP, or just the site 'being slow'. Would you complain in this instance? Probably not. But we do get people on Twitter saying "Arg, Top Gear won't load. Stupid PC". On its own, not much use. But if you suddenly get 30 or so statuses along the same line then you know something's up.

I don't think the argument that we wouldn't expect people to complain via Channel 4's Right to Reply is particularly valid. Nobody would do that anyway -- but mentioning on Twitter that a product isn't working is an instinctive reaction for many users, and one we should treasure as a great resource.
Microblogging the Editorial Policy Meeting 10:59am on 29 May 2009 Are we expecting you to Twitter? I don't recall us ever coming out with something like that. Twitter, good as it is, is certainly not for everyone. It's not as though we're switching off BBC One and saying "Right, everyone, to Twitter!".

But it would be a crying shame if the BBC felt it couldn't experiment and innovate along with the rest of the internet community.

It's true that there is some content on Twitter and only Twitter -- but it's in 140 character-sized chunks, and by no means replaces any of our other output. As I expressed in my previous post, I think the Twitter interaction improves the more 'formal' output on the BBC website. That equates to a better deal for everyone, in my opinion.

The irony of it all, of course, is that this same debate was had with blogging. It was before my time here, but I distinctly remember the BBC getting hounded for investing in blogs. "Nonsense!" they said. And now look -- thousands of users use blogs to interact with the BBC every day. Are they still a bad idea?

I believe Twitter -- or, at least, microblogging -- will evolve and mature in the same way blogging has. Who knows, soon we may be having a debate along the lines of "I wish the BBC would stop posting to WibbleVision, it's a load of futuristic nonsense. Can't they just stick to Twitter?"
Microblogging the Editorial Policy Meeting 10:25am on 29 May 2009 Great discussion here -- some really good points all round.

I'll not be surprising anyone here when I say I am very much in favour of the BBC using Twitter wherever it can.

To respond to BoilerPlated (comment #10), I think it's important to consider the nature of the web when it comes to using, as you put it, commercial products.

Why publish on Google News? Well, it doesn't cost us (the licence fee payer) anything to list there, and it brings in huge amounts of traffic. We're talking millions here. But it isn't just about getting more eyes on our pages, it's about utilising the resources we have to reach as many people as possible. The more readers and viewers BBC News has the better it becomes as a news organisation. And that, I'm sure you'll agree, is good for the licence fee payer.

If we stopped using commercial products entirely, we'd seriously be losing out. Adobe Flash, for instance, runs the iPlayer. It's good because, for the most part, everyone has it on their PCs. If they don't have it, then it's free.

On to Twitter specifically. I can absolutely say it's bringing value to the licence fee payer. One simple example: the iPlayer team constantly monitor Twitter for tweets containing the words 'iPlayer' and 'broken' (and so on), and investigate these issues asap. This is a quick and efficient way of dealing with technical hitches and has lead to the iPlayer being (in my opinion) extremely reliable.

Another example: Many BBC journalists use Twitter as a means of searching out sources and extra information. Take Rory Cellan-Jones, for example. He'll often consult the Twittering masses for assistance with stories, be it interview subjects, questions or leads.

Is that a good use of his time? I'd argue it was. It helps him produce better journalism.

In response to comment #3 from BagEmk, I think it's worth pointing out that this Twitter discussion was part of a monthly Editorial Policy meeting which all staff members are invited to -- not some expensive party to talk tweets.

Finally, in response to MrMaff (#13), we host the blogs here because we can. A blog hosted on the BBC site is as accessible as any other, be it on WordPress, Typepad or anywhere else.

Twitter, on the other hand, is a community. The tool itself isn't that special -- there are plenty of clones out there -- but what can't be ignored is that everyone who is into microblogging has a Twitter account. Now the BBC could, as we have with blogs, install our own Twitter clone and chat away using that. But really, who'd read it? Who'd join it? Why would you bother trying to create a new community -- at great expense to the licence fee payer -- when a brilliant one already exists?

Hope this clears up a few points. Keep the discussion going, guys!

Dave Lee
Co-editor, BBC Internet Blog.
Interesting Stuff 2009-05-18 11:55am on 21 May 2009 Egg, jtemplar,

Just to clarify -- the comment I made about HD wasn't aimed at fans of BBC HD. Far from it. It stems from an argument with my girlfriend who said she simply couldn't tell the difference. I think we all know that's a bit mad. That is all.

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