Know-How Exchange : Social Media

Nice comment, but I would have to disagree that the "same wine, modern bottle, with a 2012 label". However, great comment and now I'm enticed to grab a glass of wine myself. This year, the Olympics were completely different due to the use, popularity, and availability of social media. I felt like half the news revolved around the intimate tweets, personalized photos, and rich media that the athletes themselves contributed. Records were broken not only on the track and in the pool, they were broken with Twitter, and other social media apps. Just food for thought.

The Games this year were no different from previous years: a venue was selected; athletes took part; some won, some lost; some put in great effort, others, less so. Most of the participants played nice, others broke the rules.

There were tears of joy and anger, and there was upset ... it is a competition; an event; it is a worldwide stage and many of the performances on that stage will be recalled and talked about for years to come. Athletic and performance records are set and broken at most events of this kind; this is the nature of the event: to do better; to become the best in the world ... until some point in the future when someone younger, faster, fitter, or better able to compete comes along to best the best.

Unless Twitter had trained solidly for four to eight years, and unless it took part in specific events, and unless it won those events, no Olympic athletic record was broken BY Twitter or WITH Twitter.

News, opinion, and content might have been BROADCAST via Twitter, and indeed, social media records might have been set with it (although really, no one cares), but really, all Twitter did as a medium was to allow freer distribution of opinion and communication: warts and all.

Marketing tips learned FROM Olympians:

1. Athletes, any opinion you broadcast via social media will be picked up by the press and it will follow you around, impacting the brand of the games, of your team, and the brand called you. THINK before your post in anger.

2. People love to applaud for genuine competitors. Be the champion you were meant to be; be the competitor your trained to become and give it your all.

3. Simply because you CAN Tweet or post on Facebook, it does not mean that long term it's a good idea.

4. What gets posted on social media has a life and a lifespan BEYOND the event.

5. Potential sponsors read and pay attention to social media streams: sponsors that have the ability to put you on the gravy train for the rest of your life.

6. Your current sponsors expect you to represent them 24/7/365. Get used to it. With a major sponsorship deal comes a great deal of responsibility. If Nike can drop Tiger Woods, they can drop you.

7. The Games are about sportsmanship, they are about representing your country, and they are about supporting your team: do unto others as you'd have them do unto you.

8. You may only get this ONE chance to compete. How do you want the world to remember you? As an athlete who did their best ... even if you lost and were someone who STILL congratulated the person that beat you to gold, silver, or bronze? Or, do you want to be remembered as the loser who hung a lip?

9. Be sure of avoiding all scandal and avoid all social media leading up to, during, and after the games.

10. If you'd be upset about someone saying the things to you that you're tempted to say to or about others, say nothing. Less is more.

11. Congratulate every winner, every hopeful, and every team member as you'd have them do the same to you. Everyone on every team earned their spot, which makes EVERYONE who can go to the Games to represent their country a champion.

12. Be mindful of those who scrimped and saved, who mended and made do, and who did without. Those who trained you, who advised you, and who urged you on when you were tempted to throw in the towel. Your comments on social media reflect THEIR effort too. Be mindful of everyone that helped you become that which you are: a world class competitor, an Olympian ... because although many are called, few are worthy, and fewer still have what it takes to achieve the status of a true champion and the award of gold, of silver, or of bronze.

And finally, the Olympic motto is not Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, it is Citius, Altius, Fortius—which translates roughly as Swifter, Higher, Stronger.

Now, start training for Rio.