360DigitalInfluence

The World Cup, the biggest sporting event in the world, is quickly approaching. Starting June 11^th, 32 teams representing different countries from around the world will compete for the soccer title that has been given every four years since 1930 (with an exception of 1942 and 1946 due to WWII). But 2010 is a particularly special and relevant year. Why, you ask? Because of social media!

Social Media as we know it did not exist during the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Twitter did not launch until July 2006. Facebook didn’t become public until September 2006. YouTube existed but videos looked like this #6 most popular YouTube video of 2006. Now, only 4 years later, Facebook has over 400 million members and more than 50 million tweets are sent each day. These platforms, which were infants during the last World Cup, are now globally available and hugely popular.

Consider what it will be like when the biggest sporting event in the world (an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final game of the last World Cup) hits platforms where fans on opposite sides of the planet can communicate publically and in real time. The soccer players themselves can share a behind-the-scenes perspective with their friends and fans; @FIFAworldcuptm can update it’s already 40,000 followers with pertinent news and information; fans can upload videos sharing their personal experiences with the tournament; and individual country facebook pages, such as Support England in World Cup 2010!! (which already has over 100 thousand fans), can communicate directly with team supporters.

The World Cup, which will be held in South Africa, will be an especially explosive time for Twitter. Robin Sloan, a Twitter employee that works on media partnerships, told CNN, “Our notion is that [the World Cup] will eclipse everything we have seen so far [on Twitter] including the U.S. election, the Oscars or the Super Bowl, simply because it is so international”. It will be as if there is a month-long World Cup twitter party!

Naturally, you might be wondering about the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Here is a snapshot of its social media presence: the Vancouver Facebook page garnered well over 1.1 million fans and Shaun White, the gold-winning snowboarder, has over 178,000 followers on twitter. The World Cup gathers far more viewers and is a significantly more global event.  According to the Huffington Post, 32.6 million people watched the Winter Olympics 2010 Opening Ceremonies, but over 700 million people watched the finals of the last World Cup. The 2010 Winter Olympics has only given us a glimpse as to what is possible during the upcoming World Cup.

The World Cup is a massive and unique month-long event when hundreds of millions of people from around the world come together to support something they love. Now, for the first time, there is an online world that can support and amplify the conversation that comes with such an event. How do you think it will pan out?