Many observers have commented that the 2012 London Olympics will mark the zenith of social media as we know it, and as the article by Mike Wisniewski (forwarded to me by Maria Cokotis in the The CareerCenter) points out, the International Olympic Committee has taken a tough stance against athletes, coaches, or officials transmitting content electronically from competition venues and inside the Olympic Village, as well as sending communiques that even hint at commercial endorsements or comment about other athletes' performances; nevermind grousing about the officials, judges, and referees.  Last I checked, we're talking London 2012, not Stalinist-era Soviet Union or even Pyongyang 2012!  The IOC policy begs the questions of enforcement and punishment.  For example, can the location of a tweet be precisely identified and will athletes who violate the rule be expelled from the Games or have their medals taken away?  With the plethora of app-enabled devices at every athlete's disposal, the no-posting/tweeting rule will be hard enough to police, but what does it say about the organization that seeks to squelch the growing tide of social media addicts?  This should be a fun experiment to observe . . . up close and personal!


http://research.hansondodge.com/popular-culture/2012/05/16/the-first-social-media-olympics-will-olympic-committee-guidelines-inhibit-social-media-interaction/#.T7PwWr0amiY.twitter