It was with a lot of pride in my Canadian roots that I have been watching the 2010 Olympics both online and on TV. With the world’s attention on Vancouver, one thing is certain: people are posting, updating, tweeting, and blogging about it like no other Olympics before. NBC recently launched a pretty interesting way to take a snapshot of that real-time conversation. The Olympic Tracker aggregates tweets about live sporting events and Olympians and then overlays these conversations with images. Click on an image and tweets clearly targeted by key word, are displayed to share live comments and links. The site even allows users to post directly to Twitter without ever leaving the site.
The tracker is a fun new way to experience the Olympics and NBC has utilized it to set up a hub and spoke approach to their social media strategy. The NBCOlympics.com page serves as a social hub, aggregating tweets from Olympians to provide unique perspectives on the games, using the Tracker to create a fun participatory experience, and linking to a number of blogs to provide in depth information. NBC also maintains a Facebook page, a Twitter handle, and offers widgets and a mobile app, each of which serve as another touch point to tap into the ‘pulse’ of the Olympic games online. This approach allows NBC to create a seamless broadcast experience beyond their primary medium: television.
This cross utilization of multiple social channels allows NBC to syndicate content across the web and ultimately drive users back to their social hub. The notion of a social hub has become increasingly important as media broadcasters and marketers look to extend their social media presence beyond the often mundane Facebook fan page. Often it is these unique sites that use open API technology to tap into the social fabric of the web that are truly eye catching and engaging.
Channels like Twitter and Facebook are quickly becoming utilities that are directly integrated into every website experience. The challenge for marketers then is figure out how to utilize multiple communication channels to achieve their marketing objectives. Each social tool should be used to its own strengths, but all touch points must ultimately find continuity. The hub and spoke approach to social media allows the marketer to do just that. By integrating social interaction and popular social network channels into a centralized site, companies or broadcasters can maintain a focus in their communication without spreading themselves too thin. Social hubs also have the potential of creating a community beyond the Facebook fan or Twitter follower. Soon we may see Facebook or Twitter serving as just a gateway to an even more vibrant and close nit online community found within a branded social hub. It may be these more niche online communities that make social media even more impactful than today.
