Technology has certainly impacted the London Olympics, in more ways than the opening ceremonies could exhibit. In several games itself, the latest equipment provide not only high-definition coverage, but also ultra slow-mo replay perfect those too-close-to call events in athletics and aquatics. But what about how social media technology is impacting the games, and the question if the games have adapted well-enough with the social media climate of today?
Interestingly, the Olympics has yet to fully harness the power of social media. If anything, broadcasters are tooblame. In an era where society lives in public, particularly online, the games are hardly noticeable in the cybersphere. Yes, Twitter is always there for live updates, and live score channels proliferate (so much in fact that GPS Signals in the games failed) but live streaming has been a major downside to what is considered as some of the most watched events in the world.
Copyright laws have prevented the Olympics from reaching the digital audience. Many live streams are exclusive to certain territories – like the US, Canada and Europe. The official website of the London Olympics itself has no links to where you can watch the games online. The few websites you can go offer faster streaming but obviously for a price. Free streams pop up here and there, but sooner than the games start, they’re taken down.
Should the London Olympics have embraced social media more? It certainly could have harnessed the immense power of the medium in delivering updates, links, videos, and other multimedia materials. The website is helpful when it comes to schedules but many online viewers are left disappointed missing out on many events. Local broadcasters stick to a schedule, and can only broadcast so many events at a time. Simultaneous viewing, possible through online means, hasn’t been as friendly as many people would have wanted the Olympics to be.
A huge event like this could have made more impact, partnering with the big online guns, like YouTube and Facebook, in delivering digital content. Instead, many viewers are left to choose between the off-chance the games they want to watch being previewed or trying their luck looking for live streams with good coverage. Big events best watched live are delayed for primetime broadcasts too, making one wonder if it’s really about the viewers and the games, or it’s about the media outlets and broadcasting company’s profits?
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There is certain legal factors for allowing coverage in other countries, these are the same reasons why websites in the USA like HBO etc. do not allow anyone from the US to watch videos on there sites.
The BBCs website has live feeds of all events with real time live data, the site also has the ability to rewind these live streams, all events are available to view at any point, also there is TV channels dedicated to the olympics on Freeview and Sky which has around 20 extra channels all covered by the BBC.
YouTube could have been used but the full coverage should be covered by each countries broadcasters who have access to all media streams as part of there media package, also you do not see any other events covered on YouTube, events like the World Cup, Major boxing events in the USA, Wresting, NFL, NBA, all have there own dedicated websites and channels which these events can be watched and most of which do not use YouTube, therefore these events at most can not be viewed outside the USA.
As for the embrace of Social Media there is several Twitter and Facebook pages for the Olympics, although this is something that should be covered by each individual countries media to keep these tweets current, #TeamGB of which keeps followers fully up to date with all events.