Disseminating the Olympic values on Facebook and Twitter during Rio 2016: content, influencers and engagement

Authors

  • Jose M. Pardo Gila Centre d’Estudis Olímpics i de l’Esport, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Keywords:

Olympic Games, Rio 2016, Social Media, Digital Methods, Facebook, Twitter

Abstract

This paper analyses the activity generated by the main Olympic actors and users’ participation on Facebook and Twitter during Rio 2016 through techniques and computational procedures called Digital Methods based on big data. This research is based on the analysis of 38,037 Facebook posts diffused by the main Olympic actors, which generated a total of 144.3 million interactions on behalf of the users, and the analysis of 43.3 million tweets, which were retrieved and stored due to their likeness to the official Rio 2016 event hashtags. It examines the strategies employed by the Olympic Family via social media, and the complex interaction between the various actors involved. This analysis contributes to discover whether Facebook and Twitter have capacity to create realities independently of the traditional mass media during a global event such as the Olympic Games, and the need for a more comprehensive and strategic approach to the opportunities presented by social media in the context of the Olympic Movement.

Author Biography

Jose M. Pardo Gila, Centre d’Estudis Olímpics i de l’Esport, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Jose M. Pardo Gila is Doctor Cum Laude in Audiovisual Communication. He is currently a researcher on social media and sports at the Centre d’Estudis Olímpics i de l’Esport at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. His doctoral thesis is based on big data methods on social media to understand the strategies of the biggest sports organizations and the behavior of their users.

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Published

2018-11-01

Issue

Section

Articles