Post date: Jul 21, 2012 8:43:54 PM
The explosion of social networking offers huge opportunities to the IOC, but with much of its revenues dependent on the billion-dollar deals agreed with broadcasters, the body overseeing the Games will also have to protect those long-held rights.
"We are relative newcomers to the social media scene," the IOC Communications Director Mark Adams said. "It's fair to say that three years ago, before the Vancouver Games, we did no social media. And now we have about 14 or so million followers globally on all sorts of platforms. Mainly obviously Facebook and Twitter, but also in China on Sina Weibo.
The International Olympic Committee will sail in to uncharted waters next week when the Games open in London with millions of fans around the world on Facebook and Twitter reacting instantly to everything that unfolds.
LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JULY 18, 2012) (REUTERS) - The International Olympic Committee will sail in to uncharted waters next week when the Games open in London, at the mercy of the millions of fans around the world on Facebook and Twitter who will give instant reaction to everything that unfolds.
"We have 10, 500 Olympians who will be at these Games. It's a huge tidal wave but, you know, we won't be sitting pouring over every post, every tweet. We won't be sitting there in our IOC headquarters in Switzerland looking at that.
"You know, we are there to help people have that conversation, but rest assured where an organisation or a company particularly who is trying to make money out of the Games, and they're not an official sponsor, we will stop that."
Fans inside a stadium will be allowed to use their smartphones to film Usain Bolt on the track or Michael Phelps in the pool, but they will not be allowed to upload it to Facebook in a ruling that may surprise many tech-savvy fans who now upload clips on a regular basis.
Anthony Edgar, head of media operations for the IOC, freely admits that he does not know what to expect in London following the explosion of social media, with some 900 million people using Facebook in 2012 compared to the 100 million who used the site just four years ago at the time of the Beijing Games.
Edgar said the social networks could enable its media partners to reach a younger audience who are spending less time in front of the television, while the IOC will work closely with Facebook and Twitter in cases where unofficial content hits those sites.
"We haven't tried to create something that's restrictive," Edgar said. "We've tried to create something that gives people a voice. How much has it changed? Twitter had nine million users in Beijing. We've got 140 million users now. Facebook had 100 million users in Beijing, we've got 900 million now. So, yeah, it's changed."
Alison Williamson, a British archer who has competed at every Olympics since 1992, remembers how athletes took to emails in that Games in Barcelona and could see how 2012 will become the first social media Games.
"In '92 in Barcelona that was the first time I'd experienced using email basically," she said. "When we got there we had those computer monitors set-up in the residence centres and we learnt, you know, pretty quickly it sort of spread. Obviously I was a lot younger then so I was quicker at picking things up.
"But you could send instant messages, well not instant messages, messages to your friends in the Village and you had an inbox, and would be like 'oh, I've got to get back to the Village to find out how many emails I've got'. You know, it was a brand new thing then. It was completely new."
South Africa's Oscar Pistorius admitted he was not fully aware of the IOC rules and regulations for the athletes using social media during the Olympics and Paralympics but said he would be concentrating more on competing rather than tweeting over the next month.
"I've still got about a week before I go into the Village but I know I should be up to date with those things probably by tomorrow," Pistorius said at a social media conference via Skype. "It's not much of a concern for me. I won't be tweeting as much during the Olympic Games and I'm sure a lot of my concentration will be on my competition anyway. No I'm not a very personal person when it comes to Twitter.
"I just update my fans with what I'm doing and I'm sure whichever guidelines that the IOC and LOCOG have implemented, you know, I'll be more than happy to comply with those."
However, other athletes could pose different problems for the IOC by posting personal tweets, such as Kerron Clement.
"Um, so we've been lost on the road for 4hrs," said twice world 400 metres hurdles champion Clement via Twitter. "Not a good first impression London.
"Athletes and officials are sleepy, hungry and need to pee. Could we get to the Olympic Village please?"
Traditional media including newspapers and TV in Britain jumped on the fact the bus driver had got lost, despite the rest of the transport system appearing to be working properly.