Social media why bother?

Social media - why bother?

Mark Morrell – BT Intranet manager

http://markmorrell.wordpress.com

© British Telecommunications plc

Agenda

• A little bit about BT’s intranet• How did we start?• What do you need social media tools to do?• How do you manage social media tools?• What social media tools do we use?• What are the benefits?

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A little bit about BT’s intranet

• It started in 1994• It is available to 140,000+ people in BT including third parties• All our information and applications are online: guidance, policies,

news• We collaborate online too: blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS, Twitter• It is benchmarked by the Intranet Benchmarking Forum as one of the

best intranets overall and for:– Governance and strategy– Metrics and performance– Communications and culture– Design and usability

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Why is social media important to BT?

Social media is: technology embedded in social behaviour

social networks

global data networks

communications technology

building sustainable communities – from local to global

giving power to users

making technology simple

…these are BT’s business drivers!

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Meeting the demand from younger and new users

• Nearly 90% of BT people under 25 use social media• Less than 50% of BT people over 50 use social media• Generation Y naturally expect to be able to use Facebook, Twitter,

etc• Why create duplicate social media tools internally?• People are blending work with personal use of social media• One persona not different identities for all use of social media

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Traditional communication channels inform people

• communicate business/time critical information to a wide audience • communicate ad hoc news to a wider audience • communicate news to a specific community on a regular basis • communicate operational information, e.g.. a process change • communicate a message using pre-recorded video • publish reference material via the intranet • promote a topic using an image/banner • store a document for use on-line • organise an interactive on-line event • update a large audience face-to-face with key strategic/business

information • send something by post

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Social media tools engage people

• interact and develop new relationships with my customers, partners and suppliers

• seek input from customers on product and service development • improve customer service • accelerate problem solving • facilitate innovation through collaboration with third parties and

industry experts • manage the brand and reputation • interact in new ways with employees.

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BT Homepage – our intranet corporate portal

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BT Today - our intranet newsdesk

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BT today – your space

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BT today RSS – you subscribe to your news

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BT Homepage – our intranet corporate portal

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Blog Central – BT’s blogosphere

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Blogging example

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BTpedia – BT’s corporate wiki

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BTpedia – wiki article example

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Podcast Central – ‘show and tell’

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Podcasting example

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CEO online chats

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Guidelines for using social media in BT

• Anyone can use social media tools on the BT Intranet• Simple to use, no training needed• Support global collaboration and share opinions, insights,

experiences and perspectives often with strangers • Content is managed and regulated by the user community itself• No anonymous postings• Avoid unlawful and offensive postings• You will be held accountable for what you say

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Weighing up the benefits from social media

• Balance guidelines with benefits as well as risks• Identify examples of benefits gained:

– By finding right person– By finding right information– By joining a community of interest– Sharing/creating views and opinions

• Alternative to other publishing tools• Research the benefits people have gained by use of social media

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Thank you!

• For further information and questions ask me today or contact me on:

• My blog http://markmorrell.wordpress.com• Twitter https://twitter.com/markmorrell• LinkedIn• Facebook• Email mark.morrell@bt.com