London Olympics Ban Volunteers From Social Media? My Thoughts on 96.3 KTWN.
An announcement today by the London Olympics Organising Committee (LOCOG) stated that the 70,000 unpaid volunteers will not be able to use social media to mention details of their location, their role or any backstage information about athletes, celebrities or “dignitaries” on social media. However, the volunteers are welcome to disseminate any official London 2012-sanctioned information to their followers.
As a social media strategist, I have some educated opinions on this topic. This is where 96.3 KTWN comes into play. I have been invited to give my professional opinion on this during Tuesday’s morning show with Eric Perkins and Tony Fly at 6:30am.
I would love to get your thoughts on the Olympic volunteer ban. Share a comment that is worthy and I will mention it on the air. Hope you listen in and share your feedback!
Update: I have a link to the audio for my radio debut. Listen in and enjoy. Maybe you will hear me on the radio again in the very near future! Thank you all for your support!
Jason
Having folks tweet, post photos, blog about a live event creates buzz…which leads to people tuning in to watch…which leads to more viewers…which means more advertising exposure…and ratings. This is the direction TV is going with social. Unless there’s some weird legal issue about disseminating “behind the scenes” info, I’m not sure why the Olympics wouldn’t want these folks advocating the games to their followers.
Katie,
My first thought was in line with your take on disseminating behind the scenes info. I understand their stance from that viewpoint. I see this being a nightmare to police 70K volunteers. Also, where is the social backlash on this policy? I have seen little conversation around this topic within the social space. Unless a groundswell happens, I expect this policy to stay in place.
Thanks for commenting! Hope all is well.
Jason
Look forward to getting up early to listen, Jason. I’m pretty stunned by this.
I have a niche question and/or comment. Aside from FB and Twitter, I’ve always been a fan of Flickr. Google loves them, people love pictures and volunteers would have the chance to title/describe/tag photos to tell interesting stories behind each photo.
Is the volunteer SM ban because of security reasons? If so, I can understand it to a point but like kschutrop mentions, all of this creates buzz. As a consumer and TV viewer, I would definitely feel more engaged by seeing volunteers using SM during the Olympics.
Hey Paul,
Security reasons is my guess why this policy has been put in place. It was interesting to hear Tony Fly mention that American Idol banned phone/social use for audience members during their finale two years ago but rescinded that policy the following year. If attendees/fans become restricted, that would change everything. Remember, this is supposed to be the “Twitter Olympics” for athletes. I hope that stays status quo.
Hope all is well with you!
Jason