From Knitting to Cardboard Beds: Tokyo 2020 On Social Media
What an amazing fortnight. Against all odds, Tokyo 2020 went full steam ahead and it was incredible. Despite endless months of doubt and controversy, Japan proved to be a stellar host nation in times of crisis. Whilst fans were dearly missed in the stands, instead, they flocked to their TVs and laptops to watch the greatest show on earth in whichever way they could. It was essential that digitally, the Olympics ran the extra mile – and it did.
BBC Sport’s broadcasts of the Games received a record-breaking 104 million requests to watch online. This was almost 30 million more than the Rio installment in 2016. The story was the same in America, too. The number of people who watched Tokyo’s opening ceremony on NBC and the NBC Sports app was up 72% on 2016. Around-the-clock digital coverage immersed the online world, all to ensure that we never missed a beat. It is truly remarkable that when spectators – geographically – have never been further from the Olympics, Tokyo 2020 made us feel closer to the action than ever before.
Largely, this was due to social media. Social posts by Olympics accounts on major platforms TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Weibo generated 3.7 billion engagements. As a result, Olympics’ social media accounts now have a monstrous 75 million followers combined.
But it wasn’t just official channels and broadcasters that made the games an online extravaganza. It was the athletes, too, with a little help from TikTok.
Welcome To #OlympicsTok
Whether it was Tom Daley’s hand-made Team GB cardigan, Jessica Fox’s unlikely fix for her canoe, Ilona Maher’s journey to becoming the “Thirsty Olympian” or Erik Shoji’s food reviews from within the Olympic Village, social media’s hottest platform was awash with awesome content from the true stars of the Games.
TikTok soon became the unofficial, yet must-have platform for the Tokyo competition. As athletes could not post any content from live events due to potential broadcast infringements, the BTS content soon reigned supreme. A global, fascinated audience soon engaged and latched onto their favourite creators. Sam Fricker, a 19-year-old Australian diver, was posting up to 10 TikToks a day as he covered his time at the Games. Whilst Fricker didn’t come away from Tokyo with a medal, he did return home with 1.1 million followers.
But that’s what was so brilliant about the athletes that took to TikTok for the duration of the Olympics. With the exception of Daley, more often than not, they were not the megastars of Tokyo 2020. They were not household names when they arrived in Japan, but they had generated huge audiences by the time that they left. This was not necessarily because of their performances in the water, velodrome, or stadium, but because social media gave them a platform to introduce themselves to a younger audience (given the inherent nature of TikTok) that could not be present at their events.
We loved seeing the outpour of TikTok content here at Uni4m. Hopefully, it is something that will become a trademark of the Games to come.
Biles’ Bravery
But as our very own Ryan Long touched on in this week’s episode of The Social Jar Podcast, the BTS content was refreshing for more than one reason. Obviously, it was a fascinating insight into a side of the Olympics that is rarely accessible. But more poignantly, the Games’ online presence – not just on TikTok – demonstrated that there is a relatability to Olympians. That they are, after all, human beings.
This was perhaps demonstrated best by none other than Simone Biles.
Biles too to Instagram to state that she was being affected by the pressure of the Olympic Games. When your job title roughly translates to “of the Gods”, feeling the weight of expectation is perfectly understandable. Biles’ courage in not just taking to social media (which, unfortunately, can be a cruel mistress at times) to explain her situation, but in providing regular updates, was hugely admirable. Thankfully, the online world agreed, and Biles soon showed her appreciation.
It was yet another example of how social media made this Olympics so great. Whilst Biles’ series of posts were the polar opposite to those her fellow athletes were compiling in the athletes’ village, they both resonated the same positive feeling. They both made us believe that despite being thousands of miles away (in our case, at least), we’d gotten to know those competing just a little better.
A Future Precedent
It seems that social media is here to stay as far as the Olympics is concerned. It made what must have been one of the least-profitable Games in history a roaring digital success.
The process of athletes becoming influencers will be hugely interesting to follow. It opens up a new world of possibilities for smaller brands that previously could not afford to sponsor an elite talent. The content from the Games’ smaller names feels organic, pure, and wholesome – which is what all brands seek on their own feeds.
Our social media was awash with athletes celebrating victories and the incredible displays of pride that follow. This portal for free expression will be hugely appealing for a multitude of potential collaborators, who can now tap into a previously untouchable influencer market.
We are still seeing a slow trickle of content emerge from Tokyo 2020 as athletes return home from Japan. It will be a long, three-year wait for the next Games. But we can do so in excitement, knowing that a lot of fun awaits us in 2024.
Over to you, Paris.