The Socialympics
The Olympics will officially kick off in a matter of days (hooray!). Naturally, the Olympics is all about the athletes, but this year there will be some be some strong competition from social platforms.
Social has come a long way since 2008. In just four years Facebook has gone from 100 million users to 900 million and Twitter has sprinted from 6 million to 140 million users. They are the heavy hitters establishing their positions in the Socialympics.
Facebook has created a social hub called “Explore London 2012” for fans to easily find and follow their favorite athletes, teams or sports. Twitter has ramped up their efforts to accommodate the forecasted record breaking tweets per minute influx.
There’s no doubt that Facebook and Twitter will be first in line destinations for fans wanting to find out what’s happening in London, but there are a few new players that will be definitely ones to follow.
Check In.
Get Glue will give you sticker rewards for watching the Olympics. If you’re not familiar with the app all you have to do is check in to the sport you’re watching and share. You will be rewarded with stickers.
Foursquare has created locations and tips for all of the Olympic venues. So if you’re lucky enough to be in London be sure to check in and share your location on Facebook and twitter.
Tune In.
While watching you can use Shazam to see event schedules, medal counts, athletes’ bios, news and photos, as well as to vote in polls, participate in social media discussions and download NBC Olympics apps. The free mobile app will be featured on several NBC stations, including NBC, MSNBC, NBCSN, Bravo and CNBC.
NBC has been proactive in creating an easy way for fans to watch the Olympics. They partnered with Adobe to create two apps NBC Olympics and NBC Olympics Live. Users will be able to set reminders for their favorite events, record, pause or watch clips later, and switch between camera views while they watch.
Exclusive Access.
Washington Post has partnered with Socialcam, a tool that allows users to capture and upload video to share with friends across social networks, to launch the London Eyes app. Olympic Games attendees are encouraged to shoot and share their videos using the app for a chance to see their content appear on London Eyes. Official Washington Post reporters will have the app on their phones to record and upload spot interviews and live footage of on-the-ground events too.
The Olympics will be the must watch event of the summer. With so many social options, how will you be tuning in?
Photo source: DavidAllGroup
Alix Hernandez is a Social Media Coordinator at Razorfish in Seattle. She’s a true social network addict. When she’s not tweeting, instagraming, facebooking, pinning, she’s updating her popular fashion blog www.alixrose.com Don’t worry sometimes she does put the phone down.
