The 2012 London Olympic Games have been touted as the first “Social Olympics,” and new statistics show just how active a role social media played in these games, both for individuals and brands.

Twitter took a front seat for much of the action, closely followed by Facebook and FourSquare, and Nike won big with a stellar social strategy. 

Facebook vs Twitter

The London Games were the most actively followed on social media so far, with Facebook swelling to 900million active users, compared to 400million during the 2010 Winter Olympics and 100million during the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

However Twitter took the gold-medal home for social, with British digital marketing agency iProspect reporting 97 per cent of all mentions for the Olympics’ opening ceremony taking place on the microblogging site.

A report also found that athletes seemed to prefer the instant conversation action on Twitter to Facebook.

Twitter Awards

Twitter reported that the Olympics fuelled 150million tweets in total, spiking at 80,000 tweets per minute during Usain Bolt's 200 meters race.

Bolt was the most tweeted about Olympian closely followed by Michael Phelps and Tom Daley, but the Spice Girls set a new Olympic record of their own by generating 116,000 tweets per minute during the closing ceremony.

The most tweeted about sport was football with over 5million tweets, and swimming, track, and gymnastics following closely.

China's microblog Sina Weibo was also highly active during the games, reporting 393million messages compared to Twitter's 150million during the games.

Foursquare

Foursquare was the check-in app of choice with people from over 120 countries checking in at the Olympics, predominantly from the UK, US, Italy, France & Morocco.

A win for Nike

Nike scored well with a stellar social strategy for the Olympic Games, achieving the most brand engagement on social media platforms during the Olympics despite the fact it was not an Olympic sponsor.

Socialbakers reported that from 27 July to 2 August, Nike's Facebook fan base grew by a massive 166,718 fans, outdoing competitor Adidas – who was an Olympic sponsor.

“There was a time when primetime slots around major sporting events were essential for maintaining position as a household name; but social media has levelled the playing field.

“Through its savvy social strategy, Nike demonstrated that you no longer need prime time to create brand buzz,” Jan Rezab, CEO of Socialbakers.

To see B2C’s complete infographic on the 2012 Social Sharing Olympics here.

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