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The Social Media Olympics

February 12, 2010 – 1:42 pm 		Chris Walbert

Today marks the beginning of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. The Olympics has long captured the attention of a global audience and has given us countless memorable moments throughout its long history.

Now, in the age of social media, fans have the opportunity to follow their favorite athletes even more closely. In his piece for the New York Times today, Brad Stone asks which social network will best facilitate fans’ desire to get closer to the athletes – Twitter or Facebook.

Both Twitter and Facebook have placed a focus on the Games. Twitter now has a verified list of all Olympians and NBC has included athletes’ tweets in their flagship site for the Games. The International Olympic Committee is using Facebook for the majority of their social media efforts. The Olympic Games’ page has over 1.2 million fans and includes photo contests and games. Large companies like MSN have are also utilizing Facebook to connect with fans of the Olympics through special Facebook applications.

Interestingly enough, even with the IOC’s focus on social media, many athletes are confused about the actual social media policy and what they are allowed to post. This highlights the importance of having a well thought out, properly explained social media policy in place for all of your employees. Not only does this help keep employees from posting things they shouldn’t, but a clear cut policy also gives them confidence to be able to post without fear of violating the rules.

How will you be following the Olympics – via Twitter, Facebook, or just watching on TV?

    

Posted by Chris Walbert
Posted in Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Social Media Marketing, World | 1 Comment »
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  1. One Response to “The Social Media Olympics”

  2. Professional organizations, like IOC, have no idea how to deal with Social Media yet. It’s an opportunity and a threat to them at the same time. The threat is that the traditional media cannot control the message anymore. These policies are their way of trying to impose authority and control. Let’s see what happens.

    By Arman on Feb 12, 2010

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