Seven: Gotta hate Facebook
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
The Seven Network has banned it staff from accessing Facebook from work computers.
Senior management, producers and network talent have been blocked via a firewall set up from the Seven mainframe, says Confidential.
“It’s annoying for people like us who actually need to use it for work – seriously, we use it for research, trying to locate people and that sort of thing,” a Seven news staffer said yesterday.
“It’s not like we’re sitting there poking or sending virtual cocktails,” the angry staffer said.
This is a perplexing move by Seven. News, current affairs, publicists, media buyers all need resources to perform research, make contacts, and effectively deliver a better product. It also cuts of RSS feeds of news and media sites to staff. To deny them a nifty tool for fear their staff are whittling away their work hours is a poor outcome of a reasonable concern.
How can people plug Seven if they can’t communicate?
In contrast, Nine CEO David Gyngell at the 2008 network launch recently conceded Nine had to make better use of social networking. This is no surprise. He has just returned from a stint in the US where online media, social networking and blogs are serious real estate.
In the US many new programmes are launched with dedicated websites that include Bloggers Toolkits, allowing webmasters to add photos, clips and links to their Facebooks, MySpaces and Blogs. It effectively allows fans of shows to spread the word. As yet there is minimal evidence of Aussie networks embracing this marketing strategy.
“Facebook access is not allowed on our systems,” a Seven spokesman said yesterday.
“We’re focused on other things.”
Rival channels Nine, SBS and the ABC all enjoy free access to the site, while Ten allows access on a needs basis as does radio 2UE.
Source: Confidential
8 Responses
Grant you were something special tonight. Thanks for touching the heart of all us families out there.
I love it how on the news.com.au website it has a picture of Kate Ritchie with this story and the caption “Seven Staff, including Kate Ritchie, …”
This story probably has absolotely nothing to do with her – would she even have a computer at 7??
They just stuck her picture in for no apparent reason!
sites like facebook are a huge time waster and can be very addictive
Most high end offices ban these types of sites, its not unusual. They do at my work.
Just use a proxy to get onto the sites your not allowed to at work.
mmm, does seem a bit odd for a ban on all staff accessing Facebook, A lot of companies have blocked it for staff so Seven isnt alone in that regard, theres no reason that admin or support staff should need access to it at work, but I would have thought that it might have come in handy for research purposes for some of the news/current affairs staff (im using the term current affairs rather loosely in relation to Today Tonight I realise)
Yeah, they’re “focused on other things”. None of which have to do with their actual AUDIENCE.
Seven. Oh, dear. Please get a clue.
Seems a little heavy handed by Seven. And why just Facebook? At least Nine are looking at the big picture, too bad Seven aren’t.
oh well! myspace is better then facebox in my opinion!
😛