Twitter’s real-time platform has lived up to expectations of the social chatter NBC thought it would create when their partnership began.
“We’ve already seen 10 million mentions of the term Olympics during the Games as fans use Twitter to get to the heart of the action,” the company told CNN. (Enough of that traffic came from London, by the way, that the Olympic committee reportedly asked spectators to refrain from tweeting and texting unless it’s “urgent,” in an effort to lessen the network’s load.)
The site has had more attention than Facebook during the opening ceremony. The Games have long been dubbed the “Twitter Olympics.”
The Telegraph reported that according to iProspect, a large British digital marketing agency, and Carat, a media agency, Twitter was the favorite social media site for 97 percent of all online conversations about the opening ceremony.
About 60 percent of those mentions were positive, 14 were negative and the rest were neutral.
The conversation extends beyond the publicity that broadcast networks and the International Olympics Committee envisioned in the sporty rendition of “It’s a Small World.”
“It’s almost as if the IOC is completely unaware of the role Twitter and Facebook played in the Arab Spring,” Wired writer Brian Mossop wrote on Monday, “or the frequency with which people use it to communicate in real time.”
Controversy abounded this week on Twitter this week from athletes, journalists, sports fans and celebrities alike. One instance even led to an arrest.
CNN offers a list of 12 Twitter accounts to follow to get a full glimpse of conversations behind the Games, from athletes confused by Rule 40 to tweets from the ‘empty seats’ at the events.
If you are feeling out of the loop, it may be time to really engage on Twitter and other social media sites. We can help! Find us on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter.
Swish Digital: Digital Marketing Agency, Social Media