In my continued testing of the new BBC homepage design I have found a new module call Topic Tracker, this module is actually a concise version of a new site feature called Flow.
The idea of Topic Tracker and Flow is to show the reader all the latest information about a specified topic, whether it be a person, news or a TV or radio programme. In doing this the BBC have also added a new user profile system, BBC ID, so users can sign in to the service wherever they are and have all their tracked topics.
The BBC describe the Topic Tracker as
Keep up to date on topics that you’re really into. This module gives you quick and easy access to the breadth of BBC content, but tailored to your personal interests – from your favourite shows to hot topics and stories. Simply type in a subject or topic, select the best match from the list provided and you’re set to get frequent updates on your interests. For example type ‘Barack Obama’ in the Topic Tracker, choose the best link from the options provided and ‘Barack Obama’ will go into ‘Your Topics’ list. Then next time you visit the homepage you’ll see the latest BBC content about ‘Barack Obama’ in the Topic Tracker. You can add as many topics as you like.
And the BBC ID as
BBC iD is the new sign in system across the BBC. It’s already in use on new sites and services such as iPlayer message board and is currently being rolled out across all other services that require a user to register or sign in.
The intention is that by March 2010, BBC iD will be the single sign in for all BBC Online services. If you have an existing BBC membership account for blogs, message boards or other services, at some point in the next few months you will need to upgrade your account to BBC iD.
This sounds to me like the BBC ID has been around for a while but I certainly haven’t come across it and I can’t find any official mention of Flow on the BBC site, I think it could well be in pre-beta testing. There doesn’t seem to be a default link for the Flow service and I hope you can access it through http://beta.bbc.co.uk/users/Gilly2468.
This is meant to be the first page seen of the service, however it actually took me quite some time before I reached page and subsequently the home page.
This is the home page, but again it took me while to find this, and shows the latest videos and news from the tracked topic at the top and then several self explanatory columns below; the purple play icon denotes an iPlayer video.
When clicking edit in the top right corner the user is taken to a page where lots of new things can be tracked. In this screenshot I was looking at the Programmes tab where there is a list of BBC programs to follow.
When clicking on the Users tab it shows the above options of finding users on Facebook and Twitter but also Hotmail and Messenger, a service not nearly used as often as the first two. This then allow a user to follow their friends who also use Flow, unfortunately I’m not sure what information is shared between users as I know no one who has a BBC ID, you can follow me here. After linking up my BBC ID with my Twitter account @bbc_social started following me (coincidence, I’m not sure) and it currently following 324 people and has no tweets.
The BBC seem to know how to set up the default privacy settings for users (*cough* Google) where all profiles are private until made public. Once a user’s profile is public it appears that users can share they recommendations with the followers.
When digging deeper for more information I found a blog article posted today about the BBC ID and why they have created it, suffice to say their current implementation of storing user profiles is 8 years old and they needed a newer, more capable system.
There are currently quite a few issues with BBC Flow in that its not easy to navigate and some features have yet to be enabled however I think the service will make a lot of sense as the BBC has such a vast archive of information. It will be interesting to see how the social element of this service develops with hopefully the ability to recommend iPlayer programmes from within the service to both my followers on BBC Flow and other social networks.
P.S. I like the 403 page I stumbled across several times.
