Why London 2012 will be remembered as the social Olympics
Beijing brought us HD, but London will be the chattiest games yet
Reblogged from TechRadar, by Jamie Carter
Forget the sporting glitterati about to descend on our capital city – it could be the thumb-twiddling Twitterati that break new records during London 2012 at the most interactive Olympic Games yet…
“There were no tablets at the last Olympics – it’s a completely new market,” says Carl Hibbert, a tech analyst at Futuresource Consulting.
The tablet, however, is far from a passive device – and that goes double for smartphones, which will get just as much live London 2012 love. The majority of Olympics viewing will be on a TV, of course, but with ‘second screen’ viewing now common, the amount of Tweeting and Facebooking during London 2012 is expected to sky rocket precisely as a consequence of the BBC’s ambitious plans.
Anthony Rose, ex-Future Media Controller at the BBC and responsible for the BBC iPlayer, thinks the Beeb’s coverage of London 2012 needs a social media sheen not just for its own sake, but to act as a dynamic electronic programme guide.
“The BBC will have fantastic video coverage, but I don’t believe they’re doing anything in social media,” he says. “Imagine you’re sitting in front of your television and you’ve got 24 channels you could access – how do you know which is the one where Team GB is winning? Or which one your friends are watching?”
“Run Zeebox on your phone or iPad and it will know, second by second, where the buzz is,” says Rose. “Suddenly everyone discovers that one of the events is trending, and you will see that – you can arrange your programme guide so that whatever is the most popular is at the top. The BBC will provide some fantastic live video, and Zeebox is a way of helping you surf that to find the most interesting one for you. Your can then invite friends, start a group chat, and follow celebrities.”
“Every four years it’s promised that this will be the Olympics of something – of video on demand, or of HD – but it’s never changed dramatically, with most people watching the highlights each evening on TV,” says Rose. “This time London 2012 has the potential to be the first time that social media has played a decisive role.” [Full Story]
