World Cup on Twitter

One of the things that makes the 2010 FIFA Football World Cup unique is the impact it is making in the social media. You can follow whatever is happening in South Africa on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare or You Tube.

It is the first World Cup to be played since Twitter was founded late 2006. With only one game played, news about the cup has made it to the top of the trending topics.

On the eve of the World Cup, i followed most of the Kickoff concert's proceedings through various Twitter handles including Shakira and Knaan's who updated their statuses prior to their performance. Shakira even posted backstage pictures on Twitpic.

Apart from the normal football we will watch on the pitch, we will learn alot of things happening in camps faster than the traditional way of reporting. Several players including Kaka and Christian Ronaldo have accounts on Twitter. Ronaldo recently sent a picture of him and Mandela when the Portuguese team went to visit him (Mandela). The USA team has 10 players, out of the 23, with accounts on Twitter.

Twitter has since created a special world cup portal to give people a chance to follow the trending topics using their countries hashtags. Google has also teamed up with FIFA to give fans fast access on results and news of the world cup on the largest search engine. They are also using Google Maps to help fans find their way around South Africa. You can find detailed directions to restraunts, accomodation or any important places.

As a passionate follower and user of the social media, am very excited with all this. The only drawback is Twitter's capacity to handle the traffic. Wonder what will happen to Twitter when England plays USA. History is seriously being made and there is no better place to make it than in Africa.

Tweet