New Media on The Radio
March 24th, 2009
Driving back up from a lovely day spent with my family on Mothering Sunday, I was listening to Radio 1. On a Sunday night, from 8pm they have a show called Switch. The show is part of an online series that the BBC run, covering many discussion topics and using a lot of user generated content. A main aspect of the show is using online content – be they videos on youtube or music on myspace. Listening to the show it really reinforced the power that new media has and the ever increasing important role it plays in society. The show also featured a discussion on the use of twitter and Facebook status updates to inform people as to what you are doing. Annie Mac, the presenter, who confesses to using her BlackBerry to check Facebook and update her twitter whilst working out, raised the issue of whether anything is sacred now that we have to tell everybody about everything we do. This is an interesting question, although I feel the answer is that in the main we enjoy our online friends knowing what we are doing, be it out of self-importance, vanity, showing off or just being generally sociable.
The program was followed by a show called the Surgery, Radio1’s help and advice show. The show’s main debate was centred around whether we are spending too much time online. I found this quite an interesting topic especially following on from a show that featured mainly online content! An issue that I raised was that in a time of recession where money is tight, we are going to spend more time online as it only usually costs our service provider charge to do so. With twitter and facebook becoming ever popular, it does not look like we will be spending any less time online in the near future.
Personally, I feel the BBC are on to a winner with these sort of shows as most people have an interest in the area and also most people use social netwroking sights or online media. The use of these in the main content of radio shows will only increase the listening audiences interaction with the program and therefore hopefully increase audience numbers.
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See also:
- Has it all gone too far? (May 19th, 2009)
- Youtube if you want to….. (May 11th, 2009)
- An Insight to YouTube (April 22nd, 2009)
- Almost Famous…. (March 31st, 2009)
- Neverending Evaluation (March 17th, 2009)
March 24th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Yes more mainstream discussion of social media is needed beyond ‘what celebrities are on twitter?’.
On the subject of nothing being sacred anymore, I think she has a point. One thing that annoys me about twitter is when people update every 5 minutes.
Unless you are witnessing a world changing event, or your mind’s on the cusp of some amazingly profound discovery then don’t update your status that frequently…please!
Social media, especially open platforms like twitter, often gives the impression that everyone is listening to what you’re saying. I suppose that’s why people often feel the need to share every part of their (often insignificant) lives.
March 26th, 2009 at 8:57 am
I agree with you Sam and think it is definitely a good idea to implement user generated content. Social media are of an increasing importance and power and should definitely not be ignored by brands – BBC in the end is a brand too. It seems like they kn ow exactly what their target audience is interested in and where this content is to find online. Hence, marketing research well done BBC Switch!
March 29th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
I can just agree with you, Tom and Joy-Fleur. To add something new I’d like to think a bit further about the point you made about the show which followed Switch on that day: I think it’s very interesting that they chose that critical topic whether we are spending too much time online following on from a show that featured mainly online content, too. To my mind this step seems very well thought-out: I’m sure this kept the attention of people who previously listened to Switch. I assume that these people are interested in social media but may probably ask themselves from time to time: Do I spend too much time online? The link of the two topics wins them as a listener to both shows. Clever!