The Winter Olympics of 2010 had been the primary “social media video games.” It was the primary time we noticed athletes with their very own on-line platforms enter the world. Since 2010, the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) has positioned strict pointers on the social media utilization of athletes, coaches, technical workers, and different Olympic committee representatives. As just lately because the 2020 Summer time Olympics in Tokyo, athletes had been barred from sharing content material on coaching, competitors, or ceremonial grounds or posting about private sponsors in the course of the video games.
Whereas some restrictions stay for the privateness of members, the sport is altering. In December 2023, the IOC launched its new social media rules. Now, athletes can:
- Take photographs and video and audio recordings each inside and outdoors of official Olympic coaching, ceremony, and social areas.
- Share photos on their private social media platforms as much as an hour earlier than their very own competitions and once more after the competitors has ended.
- Put up one “thanks” message for every of their very own non-Olympic companions in the course of the video games, so long as it doesn’t embrace a private endorsement.
These modifications are an indication of the rising affect of social media, particularly for public occasions. It’s now the primary method athletes work together and preserve a real reference to their fan base. The significance of followers for Olympic athletes goes far past that of different public figures as a result of these athletes aren’t paid by the video games to compete. So, for Olympians just like the US girls’s water polo crew, who had been quietly working a number of jobs on prime of apply to make it to Paris earlier than Taste Flav sponsored the crew, social media visibility and the partnerships that may include it are important for achievement.
This shift additionally represents a recognition of the significance of every athlete’s voice within the followers’ expertise. We reside in a world the place connectivity is central, and that’s not altering any time quickly. Athletes depend on social media to construct their private model and create partnerships with the businesses they align with. When the viewers will get an inside perspective from athletes like Ilona Maher (rugby), Tom Daley (swimming), and Simone Biles (gymnastics), they’re able to have an unprecedented connection to the ideas and feelings of their favourite Olympians. And, engagement charges are via the roof for these athletes. Seeing athletes mingle in Champion Park, reviewing crew attire, and even behind-the-scenes bonding movies brings us nearer to the champions we love with each view.
This new wave of help is constructive not just for particular person athletes but in addition for the video games as an entire. This “inside look” has ushered in an entire new period of storytelling, branding, and help for the Olympics, and we’re seeing the proof in real-time. This yr’s opening ceremony was essentially the most seen ceremony since 2014, with 29 million eyes on the occasion.
The change in social media rules this yr on the Olympics is a mirrored image of the significance of social media in our world. The Olympics usually are not solely a spot for the perfect of the perfect to carry out but in addition a time for the world to return collectively and rejoice the astounding feats happening in real-time.
By: Mel Johnson
