social media

When Bernie Ecclestone’s reign as Formula One’s ringmaster finally came to an end earlier this year, it was accompanied by a frisson of disbelief. Until that moment, it had felt as though the former used-car salesman who had built Formula One from a disparate cottage industry into an $8bn business was indivisible from the sport he bestrode.

But, in taking the decision to oust the 86-year-old from a meaningful management role, the sport’s new owner – Liberty Media – was underlining its intention to modernise a product whose appeal appeared to be flatlining.

Zika

The first big story of the year was the Zika virus. It yielded moving pictures of troubled mothers and their babies, with malformed brains. It prompted near pandemonium, however, when speculation spread that it might disrupt the Olympic Games. 

There was also the continuing Ebola virus outbreak which had, in 2014, seen British servicemen and women come to the aid of folk in faraway places. That included the building of hospitals, which were staffed by brave medics, many taking time out from the NHS. 

At an RTS event about social media and television, Facebook’s Patrick Walker addressed the charge that his company had done little to stop these stories spreading.

‘We are a platform – we see ourselves first and foremost as a technology company. The mission we have is to connect people and make the world more connected, which is about sharing information,’ he said.

The panel spoke about working with storytellers who make creative content, how each platform thrives in the digital landscape and how user-generated content is incremental to television.

YouTube's Senior director Stephen Nuttall, Twitter’s UK Managing Director, Dara Nasr and Facebook’s Director of Media Partnerships, Patrick Walker all took part in the event.

Read the full event report here.

“Television is amazingly resilient. It’s always been good at seizing the opportunities that new technology brings,” said YouTube’s Stephen Nuttall at the RTS early evening event in late-November, “Social media muscles in on TV”.

“Some of the greatest innovators on social media are the television companies,” added Twitter’s UK Managing Director, Dara Nasr.

Over the past year or so, online video has become hugely important to social media companies.

When Philando Castile was shot dead by a police officer in Minnesota earlier this year, the world watched as his girlfriend broadcast the aftermath of the incident live on Facebook Live. The social media giant’s new live-video tool, has turned anyone with a smart­phone into a potential broadcaster.

Where users once only had the option to update their status with thrilling (or not so thrilling) written updates, live video now joins photos, recorded videos and emojis as a way to update friends and followers.

Carol Thompson, 26, spends her day battling to get the attention of a classroom of small children. She gets up at 6:15am, runs to work, starts preparing for meetings and adds her finishing touches to lesson plans. At 9:00pm she relaxes on the sofa. Watching the news is the last thing on her mind.

“I generally watch television that I have recorded, rather than watching anything live or simply watching things because they happen to be on,” explains Thompson, whose viewing choices tend towards All 4, iPlayer, ITV Hub and Sky Go.

A host of new long- and short-form programmes will be released on the BBC Three website, iPlayer and across social media following the switchover on 16 February.

The online service will build on BBC Three’s reputation for original British comedy and though-provoking documentaries. It will also be a home for contemporary British drama, innovative entertainment and current affairs programming.

The news was announced in a blog post by Nikki Carr, the channel’s Head of Marketing, as she unveiled the brand’s new visual identity.

“BBC Three's logo hasn't changed in 8 years,” wrote Carr, “so in an age of smartphones we needed a whole new system that fits the digital world, not something analogue just shoehorned into it.”