Case Studies

 

BBC use of Twitter during the London Olympics: The Role of Physical Location and Language in Driving the Cultural Value, 2012
This report presents the findings from a social network analysis of Twitter data archived during London 2012. The analysis in this report demonstrates that users form a number of smaller groups interacting with different combinations of BBC accounts rather than engage in one ‘global’ conversation. The research findings highlight the cultural value of the WS language services and journalists who are able to tailor content to ensure that it is relevant and engaging for specific groups of social media users.

WS London Olympics, 2012

The Cultural Value of BBC Twitter Accounts during the Syrian Conflict, August 2013
Since the Syrian conflict began in 2011, over 100,000 people have died, and millions have been displaced. On the 21st of August 2013 the Assad regime used chemical weapons on civilians in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus. We chose to analyse the 2 million tweets containing the hashtag #Syria produced by over 400,000 Twitter users for the whole month, as they give a picture of the ‘Twittersphere’ before, during, and after this shocking global news event in what the US Institute for Peace has called ‘the most socially mediated civil conflict’ in history. The study finds that communities of Twitter users value different aspects of broadcast material and curate their own news experience accordingly. This highlights the importance for BBC World Service of developing a range of clearly defined roles for their social media accounts so they can deliver the elements of cultural value which a specific community of social media users expects.

WS #Syria, August 2013

Going Digital with Legacy: A Case Study on the BBC Urdu Service’s Coverage of the Baluchistan Earthquake, September 2013
On September 24th, 2013, a powerful earthquake shook Baluchistan, the remote and poverty-stricken south-west province of Pakistan. This case study focuses on a special broadcast about the Baluchistan earthquake, within BBC Urdu’s flagship radio and TV daily news and current affairs programme, Sairbeen, three weeks after the event. The case study evaluates the Sairbeen programme about relief efforts in the wider context of the BBC’s news coverage of the quake.

WS Baluchistan Earthquake, September 2013

Understanding the Cultural Value of the BBC World Service: A Case Study Analysing Twitter Conversations around the BBC’s 100 Women Season, October 2013
This research report presents analysis of Twitter data collected during the BBC’s 100 Women season in October 2013. The research presented in this report demonstrates that while Twitter provided the opportunity to achieve large scale reach or exposure, the season was less successful in achieving the aim of provoking a large scale conversation via the micro blogging platform. The results of the analysis, when taken collectively, highlight opportunities to enhance a range of the components which drive cultural value.

WS #100women, October 2013

Understanding the Cultural Value of Twitter Conversations around the South Asia Season, 2013
The British Council UK-South Asia season ran during the autumn of 2013 to celebrate and explore the cultural relationship and connections between the UK and South Asia. To fulfil this aim, the British Council sought to promote opportunities to connect, create and collaborate in the fields of education and culture between the UK and countries across the region, namely India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Iran. This report focuses specifically on the elements of the season which appeared on Twitter.

BC #SouthAsia, 2013

Understanding the Cultural Value of British Council’s Learn English (MENA) Facebook page, 2014
The aim of the research is to identify the elements of the British Council Learn English Facebook page that users value, and understand the value users gain from it. Observing the behaviour of the BC Learn English Facebook page users allows us to identify opportunities to extend the cultural value of the page. To do so, we seek to understand whether the British Council has converted and can convert millions of views, and 2.4 million fans, into lasting interactions, or ‘engagement’, through a social media platform such as Facebook.

BC Facebook Learn English Middle East, March 2014