Social Media and the Olympics

Social Media has changed things somewhat in regards to knowing and not knowing the results in the Olympics.  With the games going on in London, it is nearly impossible to get on the internet, Facebook, Twitter, etc without seeing the results that don't air until later that evening on NBC.  There have been some complaints early on about NBC and the tape delaying of events.  My thoughts are this: people are either at work during the days, or not going to get up at 3 AM to watch these events live.  If they were only aired live people would use DVR.  Isn't DVR essentially tape delay?  NBC just now forces us to see the commercials for companies that are paying serious money to have their company or product advertised during the Olympics on prime time.  NBC is a broadcasting company who payed over a billion dollars to have the rights to air the Olympics.  They are not a sports only network.  Some may argue that knowing some of the results ahead of time will make more people watch to see exactly how the U.S.A. Men's gymnastics team fell apart in the team competition, or they'll make sure they watch to see Phelps win his record number of medals, etc. 

Social media has also given fans the ability to follow their favorite athletes and see the games from a different perspective.  Without social media, I have no idea what it looks like walking in to the Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremonies, but thanks to LeBron James and his Instagram photos, I get to see it.

Access like this has really given fans a completely different perspective and allowed us fans to see things we otherwise never would have seen (at least from these angles)

On the negative side, the IOC prohibits athletes from recognizing companies/sponsors via social media if they are not an official sponsor of the Olympics themselves.  This has upset some athletes who feel they owe it to the companies who sponsor and endorse them.  The athletes have the platform (social media) and don't believe they should be restricted from doing this.  I would side with the athlete on this one.

There have also been two athletes to my knowledge who have been sent home by their countries for using Twitter in the wrong way.  Both athletes made racist remarks about other countries.  This leads me in to a brief statement and debatable topic among coaches.  How much do you limit your athletes use of social media?  My personal belief is that social media is a great tool for gathering information, if you have the fan base you can connect with them, and it can be a great teaching tool.  The negatives are there will be people who go to far and say too much.  They believe because they have the right to free speech (at least in our country) and the platform to express themselves, they should be allowed to say anything they want.  This is wrong.  When you are part of a group, team, company and are representing something or someone other than yourself, you have to take caution and there can be penalties for crossing the line.  I will get in to this more with some happenings at various college athletic programs across the country.

All in all I think social media is a great thing, and I've enjoyed that part it is playing in these Olympic games.