We’ve still got another month left of 2011 and already Facebook has supplied a list of the 40 articles shared the most on the site this year.

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Social media can be a double-edged sword:  On the one hand, it’s a platform for journalists to share their content and engage with readers.  On the other hand, well, one word:  Weinergate.

According to blog TheNextWeb, the new BBC social media policy now requires “a second pair of eyes” to review every Facebook post (and Twitter update, for that matter) related to news reporting.

The policy clearly states, “A second check might well avoid you saying or linking to something unwise, which could land you, or the BBC, in trouble.”

The BBC also states some of the obvious, like, “Don’t say anything stupid,” and warns reporters to avoid sounding off  on a particular topic or idea.  A Washington Post editor recently swore off another social networking platform because it was too tempting to share personal views.

The Canadian Broadcasting Co. has joined most other major media organizations in not only creating social media guidelines, but also continuing to modify them as social media converges with other sources.  For example, CBC recently made its Facebook policy more stringent by prohibiting journalists from using posts for attribution, as a way of encouraging reporters to actually report from the field, as opposed to from their desk.

The BBC guidelines are divided into three areas:

1. Your own personal activity, done for your friends and contacts, but not under or in the name of BBC News
2. Activity for core news (breaking news), programs, or genres carried out officially in the name of BBC News
3. Activity of editors, presenters, correspondents, or reporters carried out as part of official BBC News output.

Readers, what do you think of the BBC’s new Facebook policy?

This is a guest post from software developer Chris Bucchere. He is CEO of Mojo — a game where fans compete to unlock badges and earn point awards on their favorite websites. Currently a Dogpatch Labs resident entrepreneur, Chris has lived in San Francisco since 1981.

The media scandal du jour relates to how WikiLeaks leaked all this classified information about the war in Afghanistan, but let’s not overlook this extremely irresponsible piece of reporting that MSNC published earlier this week about an alleged Facebook privacy breach.
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As part of an experiment called “Behind Closed Doors on the Net”, five journalists from Canada, France, Switzerland and Belgium will be locked in a house from February 1st to 5th.  The goal will be to determine what image of the news they receive when interpreting solely through Social Media.  This analysis can certainly help provide some analysis into Twitter, which unexpectedly rose as the primary communication channel for protestors during the recent Iranian election, and has recently been used a tool for aid in Haiti.
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