the twitter #2016#olympics bid

1

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

2

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

3

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.

4

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

5

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

6

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

7

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

8

popularsupportandproofofitareneeded.Nowthatthebiddingfewerislonggone,Rio’stwitteraccountcontinuestothriveandcurrentlycountsmorethan7,500followers.Theothercitieshavestoppedtotweetbuthaven’tdeletedtheaccountseither.Infact,theyhaveturnedinyetanotherchanneltogivethankstothosewhosupportedthemintherace.

Figure6–Madrid’sThankYoulink

fromTwitterbio