The Twitterlympics

Thought Facebook was losing out to Twitter? Think again, as London 2012 has officially been dubbed the 'Twitterlympics'; the first social media, sporting event in history. The social media site; that allows its fans to create short and immediate posts regarding events and use the hash tag service to join in on popular topics became central to the success of the phenomenal event.

Internet marketing consultants are revelling at the new statistics that show just how the site works and how anyone can reach an audience of millions. Before the Olympics had even begun the hash tag #savethesurprise began circulating in regards to the opening ceremony and soon others including #London2012 and #TeamGB began doing some major rounds.

Surprise surprise it was Usain Bolt that got Twitter truly buzzing with his phenomenal wins; with reports indicating that over a thousand tweets per second mentioned the breath taking athlete. However it wasn't just spectators getting involved in the highs and lows of the games; athletes from around the world got involved in the online buzz; including our very own Sir Chris Hoy.

Whether it was for TeamGB or Bolt, for a win or a loss or for sheer surprise; Twitter very much became central to the games, it's popularity and worldwide growth and it was reported that games chiefs at one point had to ask spectators to cease tweeting as signals used to track men's cycling were suffering interruption…we knew social media was growing but we have to admit we never saw such dominance coming!

Twitter is one of the most powerful tools; utilize it just as well in your online marketing and you could be surprised at the results!