Record numbers of Tweets coming from the London Olympic Games cause organizers to say “back off.”
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Record numbers of Tweets coming from the London Olympic Games cause organizers to say “back off.”
CAUTION: SNAGGLEPUSS REFERENCES AHEAD.
According to Twitter, the 9.66 million tweets were sent during the Olympic Opening Ceremonies on Friday. That number already blows away the number for the entire Beijing Games. While people are busy tweeting and Twitter is an official Olympic sponsor, officials are asking some people to (this is where you put on your Snagglepuss voice) STOP ALREADY. Olympic tweeters asked to hold off on all that, you know, tweeting and sending so many texts. Apparently the sheer volume of information is clogging up data lines that are needed for Games’ communication. HEAVENS TO MERGATROID!
The problem reared its head during the cycling road races for the men and women. Both events were free and open to the public, which meant big crowds of people all wanting to share the experience as much as possible. Messages jammed the very same network that was transmitting GPS data from competitors’ bicycles to broadcasters and left commentators at a loss for words, because they had no official way to figure riding times for cyclists.
Reuters has this quote from an International Olympic Committee spokesman:
“Of course, if you want to send something, we are not going to say ‘Don’t, you can’t do it’, and we would certainly never prevent people,” he said. “It’s just – if it’s not an urgent, urgent one, please kind of take it easy.”
Interestingly, the same spokesperson was seen leaving the Opening Ceremonies through an exit near the left-hand side of the stage.
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