It’s hard to imagine now, but around this time four years ago, when the World Cup was just kicking off in Germany, Facebook was just two years old and only available within certain networks. YouTube, and viral videos for that matter, was still in its infancy. And Twitter? Well, the word barely existed back then. So this year’s World Cup will be a landmark not only in a soccer sense (it is the first time it’s being held in Africa), but in a social media sense as well. Today, the number of ways to follow the world’s biggest sporting event and connect with fellow fans is unparalleled.
As a starting point for just how much social media will impact the tournament, take a look at the popularity of Nike’s “Write the Future” video, which broke it’s the company’s own viral record for the biggest audience within its first week of release with 7.8 million views. The three-minute commercial features international soccer stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba (with some appearances by Landon Donovan and Kobe Bryant), giving it a worldwide appeal. And according to AdAge, the video’s popularity was huge in every single country.
Also, time differences between home and host countries resulted in a lot of called-in-sick days during the work week during previous World Cups, but iPhones and Androids have made it easy for anyone to be tuned in and plugged into any sporting event. For smart phone users, a ton of World Cup applications available from ESPN, Fox Soccer Channel, Univision and Goal.com, to name a few, allow users to access updates, highlights and play-by-plays anytime, anywhere. We’ll also probably see a rise of uploaded YouTube content from South Africa thanks to video- and camera-phones.
But while YouTube still provides great viral content, and mobile phones can keep you tuned into games, the most interesting aspect of this year’s World Cup likely will be the use, and potential growth of Twitter. As we’ve seen here in the US, the micro-blogging site has changed the way we follow sports, and it will definitely be interesting to see its worldwide effects during the month-long tourney. Currently, more than 60 percent of all registered Twitter accounts are outside of the U.S. A few of those international accounts belong to some World Cup players, including the Brazilians Kaka, Luis Fabiano and Gilberto Silva, France’s Nicolas Anelka, and Spain’s Andrea Iniesta. About a third of the U.S. team, including Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Oguchi Onyewu have been tweeting updates from their training grounds in South Africa. Worried about Jozy’s ankle? Don’t fear, he tweeted he’s back training with the team.
Of course, keeping up to speed with players and coaches is great, but engaging with your fellow World Cup fans is even better. Want to know what people are thinking about England-USA (which, by the way, will be awesome to monitor on Saturday), or debate if Lionel Messi is the world’s best player, or tweet how incredibly good-looking Spain’s players are? Twitter will be your go-to resource. Enter #worldcup or #wc2010, or your team of choice (#USMNT if you want to follow Team USA, or #England for Rooney and co.) and you’ve literally got the World Cup at your finger tips.
The possibilities to connect with other soccer fans are endless. It will be interesting to see how widespread and how far social media will grow during the tournament. We’ve seen its impact here in the US, during the Super Bowl, the elections and other major events. But the fact that this tournament is pretty much the sole focus of sports fans outside the states means that it could potentially eclipse any social media phenomenon we’ve seen before. When South Africa faces Mexico on Friday, and the tweets, Facebook updates and YouTube uploads begin, we’ll truly begin to see the global influence of social media.
