Dan GillmorJul 31, 2023

The BBC's experiment with Mastodon is pathbreaking in English-language news -- a major organization setting up its own instance. They've really thought this through. Key language:

"We're using social.bbc as the domain, so you can be sure these accounts are genuinely from the BBC. And by linking to and from the BBC’s website, we have verified our identity on Mastodon."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2023-07-mastodon-distributed-decentralised-fediverse-activitypub

Welcome to:
@BBCRD
@BBC5Live @BBCRadio4
@BBCTaster
@Connected_Studio
@BBC_News_Labs

The BBC on Mastodon: experimenting with distributed and decentralised social media

Trialling ActivityPub and the federated model for social media and it's possibilities for the BBC.

BBC R&D
Show threadShoqJul 31, 2023
@dangillmor @BBCRD I’d like to think American broadcasters will take the hint, but I know I’d be wrong. They will drag their feet for 5 more years. At least. If they do it at all.
Show threadDan Gillmor
@shoq News orgs in general, not just broadcasters... @BBCRD
Jul 31, 2023 at 7:32pmWeb
Show threadShoqJul 31, 2023
@dangillmor @BBCRD Yes, agreed. I’m just hoping an icebreaker like this moves at least one sector of journalism to move even one herd. This makes me a bit more optimistic it can happen.
Show threadCharles RoperJul 31, 2023
@shoq @dangillmor @BBCRD I'm hoping it will lay enough of a cowpath for others to follow, particularly around identity verification and moderation. Very interested to see if they start bringing individuals within the BBC in or stick to "channels".