As we all know, the Winter Olympics kicked off on Friday evening in Vancouver with the age old tradition of the torch lighting.
The Olympic games are always home to cut throat competition, strategic planning and results.
And no I’m not talking about the athletes, I’m talking about the advertisers.
While some companies have been scrambling to get sponsorships, product placements and commercial spots, others are diving into the social media race.
Many viewers of the Olympics want a convenient way to follow their favorite athletes throughout this journey. In this day and age that is a very reasonable expectation and there are several ways to go about doing it. Facebook as well as Twitter have created systems to allow fans to be constantly updated with news and posts concerning their favorite athletes. The question is, who is going to win this social media match. Twitter and Facebook have engaged in an unofficial race which the New York Times is calling the “Social-Media Slalom.” You’re probably asking yourself the same question I did, what the hell is a slalom? Well after taking the term for a little trip to Google I found that slalom is a race, more so, a “skiing race in a zig-zag or wavy course between upright obstacles.” I guess that is one way of referring to social media. For arguments sake we can call these ‘upright obstacles’ any noise or distractions that would come between the fan and the social media outlet. While Facebook and Twitter are both major social media contenders, only one can be the winner in this slalom. 
Twitter has “olympified” their website by enabling fans to directly follow athletes and see their real-time updated posts. Twitter is also in the midst of creating a list of tweeters who are verified to truly be the athletes they claim they are. According to Brad Stone from the New York Times,“ A site called Twitter-Athletes is a useful resource for the Winter Olympics and also organizes lists of athletes in other sports who use the service.” Sounds like Twitter really has their game face on. As for Facebook, we shall see if we can say the same. Facebook has teamed up with the International Olympics Committee to make an official page. I will admit, I am one of the over one million followers of this page. The page functions by taking the recent posts from each athlete and streaming them on this once central page accompanied by photos as well. Aside from this page, they have also created interactive fan giveaways and even have mock mini games for fans to play on Facebook. So who strategically brought their A game? Drum-roll please……. I would have to go with Facebook. Their method is by far more organized and centralized in a way that makes it easier on the fans. The Twitter method is also effective, however, with some tweeters following hundreds of people it is easy for these Olympic tweets to get lost in the crowd. We will see who actually ends up scooping up the most dedicated followers. But, I think it’s safe to say that we will see a big shift in where people go to get their information this Olympic year. Ladies and Gentleman, the social media era has just begun, and it’s looking like its here to stay.
As we all know, the Winter Olympics kicked off on Friday evening in Vancouver with the age old tradition of the torch lighting. The Olympic games are always home to cut throat competition, strategic planning and results. And no I’m not talking about the athletes, I’m talking about the advertisers. While some companies have been scrambling to get sponsorships, product placements and commercial spots, others are diving into the social media race. Many viewers of the Olympics want a convenient way to follow their favorite athletes throughout this journey. In this day and age that is a very reasonable expectation and there are several ways to go about doing it. Facebook as well as Twitter have created systems to allow fans to be constantly updated with news and posts concerning their favorite athletes. The question is, who is going to win this social media match. Twitter and Facebook have engaged in an unofficial race which the New York Times is calling the “Social-Media Slalom.” You’re probably asking yourself the same question I did, what the hell is a slalom? Well after taking the term for a little trip to Google I found that slalom is a race, more so, a “skiing race in a zig-zag or wavy course between upright obstacles.” I guess that is one way of referring to social media. For arguments sake we can call these ‘upright obstacles’ any noise or distractions that would come between the fan and the social media outlet. While Facebook and Twitter are both major social media contenders, only one can be the winner in this slalom. 
Twitter has “olympified” their website by enabling fans to directly follow athletes and see their real-time updated posts. Twitter is also in the midst of creating a list of tweeters who are verified to truly be the athletes they claim they are. According to Brad Stone from the New York Times,“ A site called Twitter-Athletes is a useful resource for the Winter Olympics and also organizes lists of athletes in other sports who use the service.” Sounds like Twitter really has their game face on. As for Facebook, we shall see if we can say the same. Facebook has teamed up with the International Olympics Committee to make an official page. I will admit, I am one of the over one million followers of this page. The page functions by taking the recent posts from each athlete and streaming them on this once central page accompanied by photos as well. Aside from this page, they have also created interactive fan giveaways and even have mock mini games for fans to play on Facebook. So who strategically brought their A game? Drum-roll please……. I would have to go with Facebook. Their method is by far more organized and centralized in a way that makes it easier on the fans. The Twitter method is also effective, however, with some tweeters following hundreds of people it is easy for these Olympic tweets to get lost in the crowd. We will see who actually ends up scooping up the most dedicated followers. But, I think it’s safe to say that we will see a big shift in where people go to get their information this Olympic year. Ladies and Gentleman, the social media era has just begun, and it’s looking like its here to stay.
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