the twitter #2016#olympics bid
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TheTwitter#2016#olympicsbidbyAnaAdiUniversityoftheWestofScotlandOctober21,2009Justsomeweeksago,thechic,vibrantandcharmingcityofCopenhageninDenmarkbecameforafewdaysanOlympiccapital.MembersoftheIOC,presidentsofstates,popularfiguresofshow‐biz,inspiringathletes,inquisitivejournalists,Olympicfans,andyoungresearchershavefloodedthecitytowitnessandtakepartinthehistoricalgatheringoftheOlympicCongressbutevenmoretowitnessthefiercecompetitionbetweenthefourcitycontenderstothetitleofhostofthe2016hostoftheOlympicGames:Chicago,Madrid,TokyoandRiodeJaneiro.Likewithallbids,thefinalpresentationwasahighlyanticipatedmoment.Forthecompetingcitiesthefinalpresentationisthemomentofthefinalpitch,thefinaltouches,amomentwhenplanning,visions,expertise,clarity,empathy,marketing,branding,persuasion,surprisehavetomeetin10minutesoffinemasteryandwinnotonlytheGames,butconquerimaginationsandhearts.ItisthemomenttoshowthatacityisreadyfortheOlympicchallenge
andisworthytowelcometheOlympicworld.Likeinpreviousyears,thecitiesorganizedmasspartiesathomewheresupportersandcriticsalikegatheredtosharethemomentofgloryorsadness.Inpreviousyearstheresultwouldbeseenontelevision,iftheIOCpressconferencewascoveredlive.Thisyear,thenewstravelledfaster.Thisyear,thechatterandthepartywerenotconfinedtoageographicalplaceanymore.Moreover,thevoiceofsupportersofthecandidatecitiesthatdidn’tdisplayanobviousliaisonwiththembyresidencyorbirth,couldbeheardonlinesimultaneouslywiththoseoflocalsupportersandcritics.Furthermore,thisyear,inamoveunprecedentedinOlympichistory,thepresentations,theobservations,thequestionsaswellasthecompleteworksoftheOlympicCongressandtheIOCSessionwereallondisplay,live,andonline.WhilethewebcastfromCopenhagenwasshowingthefinalpresentations,reactionstowhatwasbeingsaid,implied,addressedorshowncouldbeseenonTwitter1almostimmediately.Asaplatform,Twitterispresentedunderthecategoryofmicro‐bloggingduetoitslimitationofusermessagesto140characters.ButTwittercanalsobeconsideredtosomeextentbothasasocialnetworkforprofessionalsaswellas 1 http://www.twitter.com
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ahighlycustomizedinformationfeed.Twitterisathecommunicators’favouritebecauseitenablesthemtoshareinformationinstantaneously,connectimmediatelywithpeoplewithwhomtheyhavesimilarinterest,receivefeedback,findnewinformationandtrackandmeasurealmostinrealtimehowtheinformationflows,howtrendsareformedandhowopinionsareshaped.Duetoitspopularity,Twitter,morethananyotherweb2.0platform,isthecentreofamyriadofapplications.Someallowausertocheckitsinfluencewithinitssphere,otherspermitcheckingthecontentthatgeneratesnewfollowers,andotherscompiledataandcreatecustomizedstatisticsreports.Infewwords,Twitterisadisseminationandlisteningtoolpopularamongadultusersofbothgenders.Unlikesocialnetworkingforexamplethatrequirestheusertobuildaprofiletothensharewithfriends,Twitterrequiresminimalinformationfromitsusersandallowsmembersto“follow”otheruserswithoutrequiringthemtofollowback.Twitterisasmuchaboutthenumberoffollowersonehasasabouttheperceivedqualityofinformationshared.Unlikeonsocialnetworkswheretherelationshipbetweenusersneedstobereciprocal,onTwitterthelisteningandthetalkingcanbe
virtuallyseparated.Furthermore,Twitter,morethansocialnetworkscanprovideinsightintoprocesseslikeinfluencingandbrandendorsement.Itisthereforeobviousthatbiddingcitiescommunicationstrategistswouldembarkonthisnewmediuminthehopesofreachingspecializedaudiencessuchasthoseofsportsjournalistsorsponsorsormorediffusegroupssuchasthoseofsupporters.ButforTwittertobesuccessfulasacommunicationtool,itneedstobeintegratedwithintheoverallcommunicationstrategyorfortheOlympiccitiesthisisyetdifficulttoassess.However,howcitiesusedTwittertopromotethemselves,generatebuzzorinformtheirfollowersaswellashowmuchinterestthe2016bidcompetitionraisedamongthetweeple2canbedonethankstoaapplicationsreadilyavailable.Butfirst,alookateachcity’saccountisessentialasitrevealsnotonlyhowpopularonTwittereachcontenderisbutalsotowhatextenttheaccountisusedfordialoguewiththeirfollowers.AtthetimeofthefinalpresentationChicago(@chi2016)had5394followers,RiodeJaneiro(@vivasupaixao)had2642,Madrid(@madri2016)had189whileTokyo(@tokyo2016)hadonly134.Incomparison,theIOCtwitteraccount(@olympics)launchedtocoincidewiththeOlympicCongress 2 tweeple = Twitter people
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hadhad3339followers.Allaccounts,exceptRio’s,wereinEnglishtheassumptionthatcouldbemadefromherebeingTokyoandMadridwereaimingtouseTwitteraspartoftheirinternationalcommunication.Chicago’suseofEnglishhadadoubleadvantage–itreachedlocalpublicsaswellasinternationalones.Rio’sPortuguesetweetsontheotherhandshowedthecity’sinterestincommunicatingwiththepeopleathome,ratherthanwiththoseofthewholeworld.Nevertheless,judgingsolelyfromthenumbersofrecordedfollowers,Chicagohadtheadvantageofhavingthegreatestreachpotentialandthereforethehighestinfluencerposition.
Figure1‐YahooPipes3–
ChicagoTwitterFollowersdistribution
3 http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/
Figure2‐YahooPipes–Rio
deJaneiroTwitterFollowersdistribution
Figure1and2showthegeographicaldistributionofTwitterfollowersforChicagoandRio.ChicagomanagedtoattracttheattentionmostlyfromitsfellowAmericansaswellassomeofCanadianneighbours.ThisshowsthatChicago’sTwitterpresencewasofmoreinteresttoaNorth‐Americanmarket,theinternationalreachbeingconsiderablysmaller.ForRio,incontrastwithitstargetingdonebyusingPortugueseratherthanEnglishforitsmessages,itsreachwasmorediversified,moreinternational.Despitethesmallerfollowercrowd,thiscouldhavebeenasignpointingtoRio’sstatusaspreferredcontenderonaninternationalscale.AfurtheranalysisofthenatureofthetweetscouldrevealwhetherthiswasindeedthecasebutatthispointthedatathatIhaveisinsufficienttopursuethisresearchopportunity.
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TweetEffect4isanapplicationthatanalyzesanaccount’sactivitybasedonitstweetsanditcanbeusedbyanyonetoresearchanyaccountaslongasitknowsitsID.Theapplicationusesonlyinformationavailableinthepublicdomain,thetweets,andcorrelatesitwiththenumberoffollowersacquiredorlostthatcoincidedwithapostedmessage.Finally,itcompilesthedatainachartshowingtheaccountsfluctuationoverthelast200tweetsandhighlightsinalowertablethemessagesthatwonorlostfollowers.Whencheckedtheactivityofeachofthebidcitiesaccounts,TweetEffectshowsthatallbidaccountshavebecomesuddenlystaticasthefinalpresentationsneared.Thisisnotaboutthecommunicationsteamsshiftingfocustothefinalpreparationsandthereforenothavingthetimetotweet.Thiscouldaboutacompletestopingainingorlosingfollowersoringainingasmanyasloosing.Withothertwitteraccountshowevergrowingsteadilyandwithinnertwitterpromotionmechanismssuchas#followfridaywhenusersrecommendtheirfollowerstofollowotheruserstherebyendorsingthem,itishardtobelievethatallbidingcitiesreachedsimultaneouslythisstaticstatus.Suchsaturationthereforecanonlybeexplainedasacombinationlackofupdates 4 http://www.tweeteffect.com
comingfromthebiddingcitiesaccounts,alackofdialoguebetweenfollowersandacrystallizationofeachaccount’sobjectivesandaimswithintheTwittersphere.With1updatecomingfromMadridand2fromTokyoitishardlysurprisingthattheiraccountactivityisstatic.ButwithhundredsofupdatescomingbothfromChicagoandRiodeJaneiro,isitstillunclearwhatmadetheseaccountstostopfluctuating.Sofar,the2016biddingcitiesgetdividedintoactiveuserslikeChicagoandRiodeJaneiroandpassiveuserslikeMadridandTokyo.Itistheactiveuserstherefore,muchmorethanthepassiveonesthatcantellastoryabouthowTwitterwasusedasacommunicationtoolandshedlightonthebenefitssuchatoolcouldrevealforfuturebidders.Assaid,Twitterisaboutinteractionasmuchasitisaboutsharinginformation.Beingfollowedisthereforeasimportantasfollowingothers.Itprovidesuserswithabalancebetweentalkingandlistening.IntheTwittersphereonlyfewusersenjoyahugefollowingwithoutneedingtofollowback.Theseaccountsusuallybelongtopeopleorcompanieswithverypublicprofilesactivatinginshowbiz,sports,politicsorbusiness.Twitteretiquetterequiresthusthatusersfollowothersinreturn.Foranewlylaunchedaccountfollowingbackisan
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essentialsteptowardsfollowers‐basegrowth.Notfollowingbackatallitisconsideredmostofthetimetobeeitherasignignoranceorofamonologicalentity.Fromthebiddingcities,theaccountsofChicagoandRiodeJaneiroofferagoodproportionoffollow‐backsmostoftheusersmakingthelistbeingfromdomainsofinterestforthecontestantstothetitleofOlympichost,beingdevotedfollowersorbeingcelebritiesthatcouldofferanincreasedexposurepotential.AmongthepeopleChicagofollowsareOprahWinfrey,JohnLegen,VenusWilliams,HughHefnerandIvankaTrump.OnRio’sside,PauloCoehlo’sstrongendorsementisperhapsoneofthemostnotableataninternationallevel.ThedifferentiationsbetweenChicagoandRiocontinuetohowtheyemployedtheplatform.Bothcitiesshowedagoodunderstandingofmigro‐bloggingbyusingshortenedbuttrackableURLs,acknowledgingsourcesofinformationthroughre‐tweets,answeringtousersorusinghashtags.AccordingtoTwitterAnalyzer5bothChicagoandRioreachedtheirtweetingpeakonthedayofthefinalpresentations,Octoberthe2nd,withtheperiodoftheOlympicCongressmarkingtheirstrongestactivity.However,adirectobservationofeachaccountrevealsstarkdifferences.During 5 http://twitteranalyzer.com
theOlympicCongress@chi2016wouldsendout2‐3updatesadayincludingduringOctober2nd.Ontheotherhad@vivasuapaixaohadnolessthan17tweetsonthesamedayfollowingcloselytheemotionandexcitementofwaitingforthevotingresults.Inthisrespect,Rio’ssincere,highlyexclamativetweets,half‐completedsentencesorinconsistenthashtaggingareclosertoexploitingcorevalueofmicro‐blogging:immediacy.Figure3showsthesubjectsoutputforChicagoprovidedbyTwitterAnalyzer.Chicagotalkedamongothersaboutitself,abouttheIOCwebsiteandMayorDaley.ItalsoheavilypromotedtheFunRunitorganizedinCopenhagenasawaytomarkitspresenceinthecityandemphasizeoncemoreitspowertobringpeopletogethertocelebrateOlympism.Anditthankeditsfollowersalotindirectlypointingtotheimportanceoftheirsupport,bothfortheteaminCopenhagenaswellasforthebidingeneral.
Figure3–TwitterAnalyzer–
@Chi2016SubjectsDiversifiedsubjecttalkisagoodstrategyiftheaimistoappealto
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variousgroupswithintheaccount’sfollowers.Thepropagationofimageisthereforelayeredandtheresultismultifaceted,diverseandcomplex.Thisinvitesinterpretationandenablesdialogue.Includinganidentifyinghashtagcanpushtheeventinthebuzzingandtrendingtopicscompiled.Trendingtopicsareobtainedthroughkeywordvolumecalculations.Themoreoftenahashtagisused,themorepopularitgets,thereforethemorepotentialtoinfluencefurtherTwittertalkithas.PlatformslikeTwitScoop6orTrendistic7arespecializedindoingjustthat.asRioused#Rio2016inconsistently.Nevertheless,itcanassumedthatbyusingthehashtagthecitywasaimingtoincreaseitsvisibilitybytriggeringmorevisitorsandfollowerstoitsstream.OnOctoberthe2nd2009Obama,OprahandBidwereamongTwittertrendingtopics.Rioemergedasabuzzingwordonlytowardstheendofthedaywhenitwasannouncedasthewinnerofthe2016race.AccordingtoTwitter,thebattleseemedtobebetweenChicagoasfavouriteandRioasapowerfulcontender.Theresult,asseen,hasbeeninfavourofRiodeJaneiroandsawChicago,theperceivedfavourite,excludedinthefirstroundofvoting.AsurgeintweetsaboutChicagohappenedaround4PM,thetimewhenChicago’s
6 http://www.twitscoop.com 7 http://trendistic.indextank.com
exclusionfromtheracewasannounced,whileoneaboutRiofollowedtwohourslater.Therisecoincideswithanotherriseabout2016andOlympicsandadrasticfallaboutChicago.Figure4depictsthisevolution.
Figure4–Trendistic–ComparisonoftweetsvolumeforOlympics,2016,Rio,Madrid,Tokyoand
ChicagoduringtheOctober2,2009
Attheendoftheday,RiogotTwittertalking,Rio2016surpassingbyfaranyothertalkabouttheOlympicsorthe2016bid.Riomayhavenothadthebiggestfollowingbutitswinningcertainlybroughtittheattentionofawinner.
Figure5–TweetVolume–tweetsvolumeforOlympics,2016,Rio,
Madrid,TokyoandChicagoduringtheOctober2,2009
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Ofcourse,thevolumeofcontentgeneratedbyRioonTwitter,andbyeverybidcompetitorforthatmatter,isfarsmallerthancomparedwithwhattraditionalmediainbothitsonlineandofflineformshavecreated.Similarly,thenumberofpeoplefollowingeithercityisstilllimitedcomparedtothehundredsofthousandstheycouldreachviatelevisionforexample.However,unlikethepromiseofapotentialreach,theTwitterfollowersarepeopleinterestedinacity’sbidandwillingtoreceiveupdatesaboutit.Onthesametoken,theiroutputs–tweetsandre‐tweets–areintentionalanddirectedtospecializedaudiences.HavingobservedhowChicagoandRiousedTwitteritishardatthispointtosaywhichcityhadthebetterapproach.RioisobviouslythewinnerbythevoteoftheIOCmembersbutitsuseofTwitterisequallyremarkablewiththatofChicago’s.IftakingintoaccountthattheIOCbidevaluationcommissioniscommissioningasurveyforeachbidcandidatetofindoutthepopularsupportofaitsbid,havinglocalfollowersisveryimportant.BothChicagoandRiohaveachievedthatusingdifferentmethods.IfconsideringtheinternationalappealoftheGamesanditsmissiontoattractbiggerandwideraudienceswitheveryedition,thanRio’sinternationalappealisthekey.ButsuchappealisnotobtainedusingTwitteralonebutratherresultsfromamixof
communicatedpromises,assumedidealsandprojecteddreams.Itmightbethat,forthe2016bid,Riohadthebettermix.InthecasesofTokyoandMadrid,thechoiceofTwitterlooksdictatedbyfashioninthesensethattheyseemtohaveembracedthemediumjustbecauseofitspopularityandhypesurroundingit.WhileTokyomighthaveothermicro‐bloggingplatformsmorepopularthatTwitter,thecitycouldhavestillusedthelattertoconnectwiththeJapanesediasporaaswellaswithTokyofans.InthecaseofMadrid,betterresearchintoTwittercouldhaverevealedwhetheritistherightplatformforthecity’sbid.AswithTokyo,MadridcouldhaveusedTwittertoengagewithinternationalaudiencesofsupporters,media,academicsorsponsorsanduseinparallelplatformsandtacticsprovenmoresuccessfulwiththelocalpublics.ForthisfirstTwitterOlympics,thecitiesfollowersweretheretohighlightapotentialforfuturebidderstoharnessthepowerofnewmedia.Italsoshowsthatmicro‐blogginglikeanyothernewmediatoolneedstobeintegratedintheoverallbidstrategy.Furthermore,socialmediashouldbeusedinthefutureforitsinteractionpowerasmuchasforitsviraleffectsthroughoutallthestagesofthebidandinparticularthroughtheearlystageswhen
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popularsupportandproofofitareneeded.Nowthatthebiddingfewerislonggone,Rio’stwitteraccountcontinuestothriveandcurrentlycountsmorethan7,500followers.Theothercitieshavestoppedtotweetbuthaven’tdeletedtheaccountseither.Infact,theyhaveturnedinyetanotherchanneltogivethankstothosewhosupportedthemintherace.
Figure6–Madrid’sThankYoulink
fromTwitterbio
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