The 2012 Olympic Games were accurately described by many as the world's "first social Games" for the unprecedented ways in which digital communication connected athletes, media and fans. For the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this meant promoting the Games online played out more or less like you'd expect, primarily happening on Facebook and Twitter.
But this year's Winter Olympics — beginning Feb. 7 in Sochi, Russia — require a different approach, according to Alex Huot, the IOC's social media director.
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Facebook and Twitter are still in, of course; that's where most Olympics fans from around the world hang out online. But to reach Russian fans in the Games' host country, the IOC is relying on something entirely different: a social network called Vkontakte, or VK for short.
You may have never heard of it, but VK is all the rage in Russia, where many young people favor it over the social networks that dominate elsewhere. According to ComScore data, for example, more than 49 million people visited VK in July, spending an average of more than six hours on the site during the month. Just under 8 million Russians visited Facebook during the same month, each spending an average of 30 minutes online.
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"Russia has not yet had their first social media Games and there is no doubt that these Games will be just that for them," Huot told Mashable in an email. "What is really exciting to me is that we will bring the Russian-speaking world’s 'fan experience' of the Games to the West via social media. We will also tell the stories and achievements of athletes from the West to Russians, which will build an Olympic virtual fan bridge."
The official Olympics page on VK now has nearly 2 million subscribers since the IOC started it 11 months ago. Huot and team have drummed up support in part through contests — recommending the page to a friend, for example, could win users free tickets to Olympics events. Subscribers have come from Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus as well as Russia, and Huot says the IOC's page is now the most popular brand on VK.
As for what VK users respond to best, Huot says it's about the same as any other social network: interactive content, visual posts and behind-the-scenes access are often popular. Olympics fans on VK aren't just passive users, either, as evidenced by this poll that gathered more than 48,000 votes. Huot calls the IOC's success on VK "huge" for the 2014 Games.
"We have noticed that Russian fans are like all other Olympic fans: They love sport and they support their team," he told Mashable. "One thing they do differently than users in other countries is stay engaged longer on social media. According to ComScore, Russian users are No. 2 in the world in terms of minutes spent on social media per month at 555 minutes, right behind Argentina at 565 minutes. I believe the account will grow exponentially as we approach the Opening Ceremony."
A booming VK page isn't the only new thing the IOC's social media team is introducing for Sochi, however. It's adding a Pinterest page this go-round, and added Spanish and Korean to the list of languages it uses to communicate with fans on social media, bringing the total number to seven. Huot also promises more people on the ground in Sochi. They'll comb Olympics venues and the athletes' village to share photos and other content, as well as facilitate online chats between athletes and fans.