When the Olympics come around, every kind of emotion gets sparked. Patriotism, excitement, nervousness and anticipation are all emotions felt, and not just by the athletes.
The opening ceremony for the 2012 summer games doesn’t take place until July 27th, but you might have noticed the abundance of Olympic pride on media outlets all over the United States.
These digital bursts of patriotism are gearing everyone up for the Games, and with social media use at a fever pitch, we should be expecting some great behind-the-scenes info from our favorite athletes – or will London build a wall between us and our athletes?
No, tweeting please
Athletes’ social media pages are said to be under strict observation according to Adge.com’s Emma Hall. So if you thought Michael Phelps was going to tweet a picture of his warm-up rituals and post-win (hopefully) celebration off the pool deck, looks like you are out of luck.
The Olympians cannot upload pictures or even comment on their performances – let alone the performance of another athlete. There won’t be any, “Silver medal isn’t bad, but I’m going for gold in 2016!” tweets sent from the Olympic Village.
Hall reports that The London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games has made it clear that their volunteers won’t be allowed to post anything on social networks either – no insider information, backstage photos or locals will be revealed. Even though social media is out, does that mean the patriotism level will decrease?
America: The Land of Opportunity
Visa has been airing a series of Olympic-themed commercials, including a particularly memorable one about Lopez Lomong. Lomong, from Sudan, came to the United States when he was 16 after being displaced during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and became a U.S. citizen a year later. He qualified for the 2008 Olympics and was the flag bearer during the Opening Ceremony.
These types of stories are what get Americans interested, since America is the country where everyone is from somewhere else and anything can happen.
During the 2012 Olympics, stories like Lomong’s will be thrown into the spotlight, and since their social media accounts will be on lockdown, people will want to flock to search engines to find out all they can about our American Olympians.
Getting acquainted with our athletes
We use the Internet to check our emails, pay our bills and attend to daily tasks, but when the Olympics roll around, your search history will be flooded with names of athletes and questions like:
“How old is Michael Phelps?”
“What events did he win in Beijing?”
“Which days are the women competing in gymnastics?”
“Who designed the US Olympic uniforms?”
Having reliable Internet during those two weeks at the end of July will be invaluable, especially in rural areas where Internet options are limited. Satellite Internet has rural areas covered, while cable companies hold the down the fort in big cities.
No matter how you get your Olympic info, there’s no doubting that come July 27th, the whole world will be watching.
Citations:
- London Outdoes China in Brand Crackdown at Summer Olympics by Emma Hall
Cooper Sanders
As an Internet and social media enthusiast, guest blogger Cooper Sanders enjoys blogging about the future of technology. Cooper sees our growing technological advances as a great grounds to speculate and investigate what is going to happen next. For thoughts or feedback on blogging, you can get in touch with Cooper at satelliteinternet.com@gmail.com.