But in fact the BBC has been rather slow off the mark and most broadcasters and traditional press have already appointed designated social media boffins.

Sky News established a post for a Twitter correspondent last spring and ITV appointed a social media and online engagement manager in March.

For some time there has been excitement among both the PR and press communities about the evolution of social media and the possibilities it brings but many businesses have been hesitant to dip their toe in the digital waters.

This seems to be largely due to a feeling that an online presence isn’t as good as being on telly or seeing your name in print.

Will the BBC’s jump onto the bandwagon finally convince the dinosaurs out there that Twitter’s not just tittle tattle and Facebook isn’t just a fad and they really ought to StumbleUpon LinkedIn some time?

Perhaps. Social media certainly isn’t going away although it’s rapid growth does make it difficult to keep up with – just as you get to grips with one platform it goes and changes, wanes in popularity and/or is replaced by the next big social media thing.

So it’s easy to see why some are adopting a cautious approach and why others are making no approach at all.

But as social media continues to develop, a knowledge of what has gone before, what worked, what was lacking and how the latest network has improved on its predecessor will be invaluable.

Sitting back to see what happens may seem like the most prudent thing to do but it could make catching up with pack much harder in the long run.

ENDS 

Unfettered by the conventions of the established media, rumours of the star’s death began emanating across the social media spectrum within minutes of his actual passing.

Were these quick off-the-mark tweets, status updates, forum comments et al posted by omniscient informers or just unfounded (yet spookily accurate) speculation?

Celeb website TMZ has been basking in the glory of being the first official news provider to break the story, while the broadcasters and newspapers who waited almost an hour for the coroner’s confirmation (including CNN which shares the same parent company as TMZ – Time Warner) were forced to credit their online rival, who announced the news just 18 minute’s after the King of Pop died.

Once TMZ had published, social media again stepped in to play its part, with an immediate spike in tweets and drastically increased traffic on Facebook helping to spread the word across the globe with startling rapidity.

But as shown by those early tweets on Thursday 25 June, users can post whatever they like, without hesitating to check the facts, and it won’t be long before other users pass on information and misinformation alike, allowing the message to spread with viral efficiency.

Within hours of Jackson’s death a malicious web hoax reporting the demise of Jeff Goldblum and Harrison Ford in a tragic filming accident began doing the rounds. An unfortunate Australian reporter even announced the ‘story’ on a prime time news show.

So it all comes back to this old chestnut – new media versus old media, citizen journalists versus professional journalists versus man on the street tweeting whatever he likes.

Does it really matter if there is inaccurate information floating around the web? Well, yes and no. Yes, because it isn’t so much floating as hurtling thanks to the speed with which sites like Twitter enable this information to be passed on. And no, because surely the general public is able to discern for itself the difference between a respected, reliable news provider and an unknown, unregulated rumour mill?

Gossip, which was once sluggishly passed on in pubs and cafes and on the phone, can now whiz around the world in a matter of seconds but the principles are still the same. Just because it’s on a screen doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be subject to the same disbelief, doubt and suspicion as comments made by the water-cooler, overheard in the supermarket queue or announced in the playground.

The trendy furniture chain has been using online search words (known as hashtags) linked to the protests in Iran to lure large numbers of people into its Twitter feed.Habitat used misleading hashtags to promote its spring collection, which meant that people who wanted to find out about the violent mass protests in Tehran were presented with posts about discount sofas and the Habitat gift card.

 Other inappropriate hashtags the company used included ‘iPhone’ and ‘Apple’.

Along with the protest in Iran, these have been some of the most widely discussed topics on Twitter and it looks as if Habitat had hoped to piggyback on the strength of interest in these subjects.

After all, it’s unlikely that anybody is going to search or hashtag ‘Habitatspringcollection’ on Twitter but even so, this misguided use of social media is unhelpful at best and dangerous at worst, particularly as the site has become an essential communications tool for the Iranian opposition movement.

Whatever happened to marketers targeting their audience? Surely it would have been far better for Habitat to hashtag phrases like ‘newhome’ ‘movinghouse’ and ‘interiordesign’.

Sending out tweets about furniture to people embroiled in a passionate political debate seems as absurd as sending a press release about the launch of a new alcopop to the editors of Horse and Hound, and frankly is no better than the thousands of Viagra emails we’re all spammed with on a daily basis.

Many companies, even those with in house or agency PR and marketing experts on hand, seem to be so desperate to exploit social media that they haven’t bothered to work out the best ways to use it, or to consider the preferences, or etiquette if you like, of existing users.

No self-respecting PR would expect a journalist to open his emails if he continually bombarded him with stories that weren’t relevant to the publication, and yet in the Twittersphere, they seem to think that persistent blanket messaging is the way to go.   

Yes, there is the potential to reach huge global audiences but exercising a little caution and restraint will ultimately help get your message further than mindless spamming.

Protesters turn their attention to other matters thanks to Habitat's Twitter campaign