The London Olympics have already begun in full swing – and what this global event has done is not only generate excitement and enthusiasm for the athletes competing at the global stage, but it has raised some various crises as well. So far, there have been some that have gotten some media coverage and discussion not only in the athletic community, but also in the crisis community as well. Here are just a few that I saw that I wanted to point out:
- NBC Tape Delay: The London 2012 Olympics has been dubbed the “Social Olympics” with the increase presence and integration of social media across various areas of the global event. Of course, with the increase use of new emerging technologies like social media, people are sharing information in real-time – way before NBC’s delayed coverage of the event. Many people are complaining of spoilers in some of the results (particularly when Ryan Lochte beat Michael Phelps in the 400IM in swimming). This has generated not only a lot of conversation about NBC on Twitter, but there are now parodies of their action and even a new Twitter handle called NBCDelayed.
- Hope Solo and Twitter comment: The motto – think before you tweet- are just a few words that may be repeated over and over again with athletes during the Olympic games. Soccer player Hope Solo went to Twitter to blast former soccer player and commentator Brandi Chastain over her commentary of the game in London. Some have discussed this as a common stance of Old generation of athletes comparing themselves with New Generation of Athletes – but the difference here is that everyone gets to see these conversations in real-time and will always be available for the world to see online.
- Olympic Athletes and #WeDemandChange: This particular Twitter hashtag awareness campaign was launched by Olympic athletes who want to recognize their sponsors who are not the official sponsors of the games via social media besides their sponsors (ex. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc), but are not allowed to due to rule #40 from the London 2012 Olympics Social Media Policy. The #WeDemandChange is circulating among top Olympians like Sanya Richards-Ross among others in the track and field community. The athletes in some cases are expressing their rationale and connection with their sponsors through storytelling and are sharing this with their fans and other members of the media.
In summary, these are just some of the various situations arising for brands and the IOC during the London 2012 Olympics. What we have to look here as crisis communicators is the power of social media – what the role has been with new technologies and how it has raised all of these new concerns, challenges, and opportunities among the parties involved. These cases do show the growing need of not only understanding what social media is, but understand it from a strategic sense and point of view. I believe each of these cases are going to be some that crisis communication professionals will discuss after the Olympics and take away key learning lessons.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
0 Comments