We have been talking a lot in class about the questionable decisions for the World Cup to be in Brazil in 2014 and Qatar in 2022 based on current conditions, but today we found out that officials at the Sochi Olympics will not allow photos and documentation to be shown to the public via many social media avenues and that other reporting will be highly monitored. According to the Huffington Post:
“Tweeting,” “Instagramming,” “Vining” and any other use of pictures taken with a phone, tablet or pocket camera are reportedly banned from the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, and any print journalist who violates this rule will be removed from the events immediately.
A recent Buzzfeed update says that the IOC says otherwise, and that social media usage during the 2014 Winter Games is actually encouraged, but we will have to wait and see what the future brings to see how social media will, or will not, be used. This is interesting as we have been discussing a lot the importance of social media and blogging in global events and how it gets more and more important each year. Even in this class, we are using a blog to get our ideas out to the rest of the world almost instantaneously and it seems that each major global event goes hand in hand with “‘Tweeting’, ‘Instagramming’, and ‘Vining.’”
Relating this to the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, social media and blogging has been and will be used in a variety of ways. Protests have gone viral about the spending of taxpayer dollars, David Goldblatt came in to class last week and showed us the importance of street art in Rio de Janeiro, and social media constantly helps the best goals and moments spread around the world almost immediately. Overall, it contributes to the fantastic globalization of soccer that makes the World Cup the most-watched event in the world.
In our world of social media, what do you think is going to happen? What would a global event like the 2014 Winter Olympics be like without social media? Will this be a precedent for the World Cup in 2018 in Russia?
