The 2012 Summer Olympics will be a bit different than in past years. Since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the number of people that have access to the internet has increased by over 50%, from 1.5 to 2.3 billion according to the International Telecommunication Union. That’s a third of the global population.
Fittingly, the 2012 games in London have been dubbed the World’s First “Social Games.” Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube will be some of the biggest players in this social media trend, but also be on the lookout for content flooding Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, and Foursquare. With all the hype of the digitally focused games, here are we listed 7 places you can use to keep up with the chatter.
1. The Olympic Athlete’s Hub
This site will let you search for any athlete’s name, team, sport, discipline or event and find where to “follow” or “like” that result and has a news feed that compiles both Twitter and Facebook posts into one stream.
2. SportRightNow
You can find all the best Olympics news from the internet in one place organized by website sources, sports, and teams whether the news is from teams, journalists, media, fans or athletes. Also has the top hashtags being used on Twitter which is a bonus.
3. London 2012 Youtube Account
Not only will it be posting behind the scene footage from the games, exclusive interviews with athletes, and amazing replays, it also has links to the Official Website, Twitter and Facebook account of the 2012 Olympic Games.
4. Sociagility: The London 2012 Social Scoreboard
For the marketing buffs on the internet this site will be tracking the social media performance of the Olympics sponsors. The score is based on some highly complicated algorithms that look at brands popularity, engagement, receptiveness, reach, and trust.
5. London Join In App
This App for Apple and Android will help Olympic enthusiasts follow the travels of the torch and the location of events happening in London. It is made to help people in London, but also anyone who cannot make it to feel as close as possible to the games.
6. London 2012: Official Results App
Use this App to keep up to date with live news, schedules, and results from London which will also be available for Apple and Android products.
7. NBC Olympics Apps and Website
NBC will have full live screening of every Olympic event online but will also include two different Apps for people to enjoy. The first App is the NBC Olympics App where users will be able to do many of the same things as the London App’s but within a NBC-made App. The second App is the NBC Olympics “Live Extra” App where you can watch live video streams and full replays of every event.
The Olympics are always exciting, but with the recent growth of the internet and social media the competing nations will be closer together than ever before.
Could there be a mistake in the link for the 2nd listing, SportRightNow? It is the same address as #3 on YouTube. Thanks!
Thank you, Michele! The SportRightNow link has been updated.
Thanks for the mention Ashley!
You’re welcome, Simon! Thank you for the great website!
Social media is now the norm; it’s the way to reach out to a larger audience. It’s definitely a big part of the Olympic games – from social media sites to mobile apps; the buzz about the games is everywhere. In fact, in our Olympics special report http://www.exiconglobal.com/our-products/industry-updates, we had looked at what had been done in previous games, what was planned for now and predicted the future. There are also other enterprise apps like Coke’s ‘Move the beat app’ http://www.exiconglobal.com/blog/the-olympic-rings-come-to-life-2/ where companies possibly try to connect with users to be a part of the big games.