Much is being made of Richard Sambrook’s “revelation”, reported on the Guardian’s Organ Grinder, that he learns more about social media, blogging, web 2.0 and the like from actually participating in those spaces.
Now it’s made the front page of MediaGuardian, with the headline “Poke Richard Sambrook on Facebook”. Stephen Brooks writes on the Guardian’s Organ Grinder:
“Where does Richard Sambrook, head of BBC Global News, get his news about web 2.0 and online developments? Not from his own British Broadcasting Corporation, but from his mates on Facebook… Sambrook said he used social networking sites such as Facebook to create a network of friends and colleagues involved in new media issues, social networking and web 2.0: “I find out much more about what’s happening in that realm from them than I do from traditional media.””.
Ok, so one normally doesn’t expect to find a company director, in this instance the BBC’s Director of Global News, using facebook, twitter, flickr or other social networking websites. But that’s not to say they shouldn’t be there.
I reckon that Sambrook is one of a small number of senior media and news executives who does get this brave new world and that’s exactly because he is there, blogging and posting and commenting and, yes, adding people to his list of facebook friends. I can’t think of a better or more appropriate way to learn about this stuff.
As a director of a radio company myself, I probably find it more astonishing that some people AREN’T on these places. Indeed, I’ve ensured that, when I move jobs in the next few weeks, I’m still free to keep my hands dirty running a website of my own.
The best way to understand Facebook, last.fm, etc, is to use it – not to go to conferences whether smarter people than you explain how they work in a second-hand way. Surely?
On the recent Paul McCartney podcast from Virgin Radio’s The Geoff Show, I was disappointed to hear that, even though Paul has a website, he “doesn’t use the internet”. He was a little vague about the launch of his entire back catalogue on iTunes. He probably doesn’t need to worry about it – but it’s his life, now; his future. I was sad to hear that he’s not interested – or doesn’t ‘get’ – the internet.