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| Photo credit: Twitchy.com |
If there was even the smallest bit of doubt remaining about
social media’s ability to touch even our most hallowed institutions, the 2012
Summer Olympics has certainly dispelled it.
As one of the world’s largest stages, the Olympics shines as
a symbol of everything that we hope for our future. Amidst international disputes, long held
grudges, and deep divisions, we come together to celebrate the power of both
mind and body. Knowing the magnitude of
the event and the potential for chaos, Olympic organizers have carefully
attempted to plan for every possible outcome.
From security to dress code, from sponsorships to medal ceremonies,
everything that can be planned has been planned.
Going into this Olympics, it seemed as if there was a plan
for social media. It was being embraced. Athletes were encouraged to "post, blog
and tweet their experiences.” It was
even celebrated in the Opening Ceremonies.
However, as many have learned (sometimes at a high cost), social media
cannot be controlled. Everyone has a
voice and social media allows those voices to be heard…sometimes a billion
times over.
Thus far two athletes have been given the boot for the
content of their tweets.
Athletes have launched a twitter campaign against Olympic
Sponsorship Rules.
A 17 year old boy was arrested for making threatening tweets
against a British diver.
A US
soccer player tweeted criticisms of an NBC contributor’s event commentary.
The Olympic Committee certainly is not the only large entity
struggling to maintain control in the social media maelstrom. NBC is having its fair share of difficulty as
well. Gone are the days when events that
happened hours previously could be retaped and aired in primetime to a
surprised audience. The cat is out of
the bag and NBC has come under fire for not streaming certain events that it
would prefer to air in primetime. Guy
Adams, the Los Angeles Bureau Chief of The
Independent, tweeted:
"I have 1000 channels on my TV. Not one will be showing
the Olympics opening ceremony live. Because NBC are utter, utter
bastards."
And:
"The man responsible for NBC pretending the Olympics
haven't started yet is Gary Zenkel. Tell him what u think! Email:
Gary.zenkel@nbcuni.com."
In response, NBC complained to twitter and had Guy’s twitter
account suspended. As we have seen time
and time again, nothing upsets the internet community quite like censorship,
and NBC stepped right in it with this one.
Unfortunately for the broadcasting company, suspending Guy Adams only
fueled more criticism from others.
Search #NBCFAIL and find tweets explaining how Americans can stream BBC
coverage, why NBC’s coverage has been sexist, outrage over commentator
jingoism, etc. Among my favorites have
been:
Andy Borowitz @BorowitzReport
I think the reason NBC keeps spoiling the events is they're
not used to broadcasting things that people actually want to see.
Jeff Weiner @JeffWeinerOS
Dear @NBC, despite what you think, people will tune in in
droves to watch live sports on a Sunday afternoon -- Sincerely, the NFL.
#NBCFail
Heidi N. Moore @moorehn
"No
spoilers," Costas says. except that the results are on EVERY news site and
TV newscast already. For hours. #nbcfail
So, what can be
learned from all this mess? Well, it’s a
lesson we learn over and over again in social media, and yet it is all too
tempting to ignore…In the world of social media, censorship kills. When you put content out there, it may get
mocked. We all make mistakes. We all slip up. Sometimes content falls short. When this happens, the absolute worst thing
you can do is attempt to silence your critics.
You may successfully suspend one Twitter account, but thousands more
will take its place and their voices will only be amplified and impassioned by
your attempts to stifle them.
-Nicole P
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