LONDON (England) 2012 will be the first 3D Olympics, with wall to wall overage available variously in HD and ultra-HD, on tablets and on mobile phones, and on radio and television around the world, thanks to the 13,000 broadcast personnel in London for the Games. The output could scarcely be more different from that for the 1948 London Games, which were the first to be broadcast. Then just 64 hours were produced, and it was available to just the 500,000 people with access to a TV who lived within a 50-mile radius of London. Beijing (China) 2008 produced 1,500 hours. London will produce a total of 2,500, and the BBC will offer 24 lives streams of High Definition (HD) video.

In among those, the two most exciting aspects are set to be the unprecedented availability of niche sports, each with highlights packages, and the innovative public availability of so-called Super Hi-Vision, or ultra-HD. Developed by Japanese broadcaster NHK, it’s 16 times the definition of HD, and offers 22 channel sounds available only on special screens in London. The London 2012 Olympics will be the first time this ground-breaking technology will be used to deliver exceptional quality content in the UK.

My question is: will people be able to confine themselves from using [social media] so that the Olympic moments are not spoiled? The traffic for social sites such as Facebook, Twitter and others will reveal who really wins in the face-off between our addiction to social media and the desire to experience those special Olympic moments on TV. I, for sure, will sit informed of the TV!
The Olympics officially kicked off last month (July) end, and is likely to end August 12th 2012, but as the games are taking place in London, which is five hours ahead of Guyana, it will be very much a “tape delayed” affair.
Fans who know the results are likely to tweet, post and share the results. Is this just a sign of the times?
All major sporting events face the same dynamics as the Olympics are dealing with when it comes to social media. I believe the Super fans want to participate in the excitement of the moment and share their emotions with others online.
You can’t avoid knowing who won if you are on Facebook or Twitter. The only way to save it for prime time is to stay off social media.
A company like NBC, which has paid big dollars for exclusive rights to broadcast the games, realizes that if you can’t beat social media, the next best thing is to embrace it. You can’t beat them, so then join them!
The broadcaster has arranged deals with Facebook to promote Olympic conversations on NBC’s Facebook page, while NBC News and NBC O&O TV stations have partnered with Storify, the social media “story creator.” It will cover the games in real-time by aggregating content from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites, and will embed the content on various NBC websites.
This content won’t likely compete with the daily and prime time coverage as much as complement it.
NBC, as well as the other broadcast partners from around the world, could also be getting help from the attendees, in a way. While the International Olympic Committee will still try to control the posting of photos and videos, a lot of it will certainly get out. This, in turn, could help create more buzz, which could drive up viewership.
I think we’re going to see a lot of social media, including amateur video and commentary from citizen journalists; this really could supplement the coverage more than it takes away from it.
Social Olympics-The London Games could be the prevalent event to date, with people discussing and sharing opinions on a single issue. And this could prove whether people want to interact in sharing the moment or saving it for prime time viewing.
Considering the duration of the Olympics, we have an opportunity to measure whether the marketplace is more interested in their social media streams or saving those Olympics moments for the first time on TV.
Social media are just doing something that traditional media have done for years – explicitly report results as the information is released.
Social media could allow for sharing rather than spoiling. It could make viewing the games less of an inactive affair and more of an interactive affair.
Athletes and Social Media.The other part of the equation in how social media might “spoil” the games has to do with whether those taking part know to think before they tweet.
Two Australian swimmers were criticised and barred from using social media during the games after the pair posted photos of themselves with firearms at a California gun shop while in the United States for a match this spring.
Two weeks ago, a triple jumper found her Olympic Games over before even leaving for London. She reportedly “Tweeted” a racist comment, and was soon banded!
That wouldn’t have happened in the past, because the comments would probably have been made privately to other individuals, and not published to millions
So what can athletes take away from this? Probably watch what you say in social media.
Remember… There is a permanent record in social media once you post them!