The Olympics "on" Social Media

The Olympics or the #LondonGames or the #summergames or #London2012, are in full swing now in London. They are taking over fashion, the TV, and of course social media. However – the Olympics have not made it so simple to be talking and sharing everything that is awesome about the Olympics.

A couple things that are not so hot on social media for the Olympics…

Restrictions on audience includes that social posts must be in “a first-person, diary-type format,” and video from the event is not to be shared at all.

Olympians restrictions: Lets just say the olympians are not taking it well that their usual rights to social media have been restricted by the IOC. They can’t upload video, but can upload photos. They can’t talk about their sponsors, but can talk about basic items of the day. Twitter, an instrument that allows people a larger voice, has become an instrument against the IOC rather than in tune with it lately.

Unlike the restrictions on participants and the audience, the Olympic hub and many other social media outlets allow Olympics fans to keep up with all the happenings via their mobile and/or computer. Why do you need your TV when you have the Olympics at the palm of your hands? Especially with the recording delay on TV?

Can we say this is all a little contradictory to how social media strategy is normally implemented and works? Definitely. As Mashable stated, these social media guidelines for Olympians and the audience “are in stark contrast to the robust social and digital strategy the IOC rolled out to build its brand.” If you made it all the way to London for the Olympics, wouldn’t you want to tweet, share, videotape, and more? Definitely.