The BBC has announced plans to introduce social networking across its websites in order to regain its position as one of the top five sites in the UK.

According to Erik Huggers, the BBC's director of future media and technology, the corporation's sites needed to start embracing social media. "Every time I go onto bbc.co.uk I feel alone. Instinctively, I know there are other people on the site, so we need to connect audiences with programming and with each other, embracing social media," Huggers stated.

Jason Carter, managing partner at Universal McCann believes that "it makes sense to develop it into a more social platform, but it is a very different place from Facebook and its networking should fit around the diverse range of content it offers."

The BBC is also planning to open its iPlayer service to a global audience. According to Huggers, "the BBC's priority was to make the iPlayer available on as many digital platforms as economically possible."

Source: Brand Republic