LONDON -- This year’s Olympic Games are the first to truly see the influence of social media and have been called the first social Olympics.

During the opening ceremonies, Twitter was a buzz. There were nearly 2.38 million tweets from the US alone and nearly 10 million tweets worldwide, according to TheNextWeb.com, and the hash tag #Olympics was trending on and off for days during the opening week.

The social media activity was so heavy, theNextWeb.com reports, that at one point it disrupted competing cyclists’ GPS devices. A spokesperson for the Olympics reportedly asked spectators to “take it easy.” 
 
The Olympics website even has a social media hub where you can find the social media updates of all the Olympians as well as official Olympic news.

Going into the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee set up social media rules for the competing athletes. In the rules, the IOC says it encourages social media, but it also dictates that all social media posts by athletes "must be in a first-person, diary-type format and should not be in the role of a journalist." Athletes are not allowed to "report on competition or comment on the activities of other participants."

The rules specify that social media may not be used for commercial or advertising purposes. Some US athletes disagree with this rule and have protested it online. According to Reuters, "athletes are cut off from some of their own individual sponsors just when they are enjoying maximum exposure." 

On a separate note, NBC has been heavily criticized on social media for its decision to tape-delay many of the events.

NBC was especially criticized for delaying Michael Phelps’ highly anticipated men’s 400-meter individual medley race against Ryan Lochte, which was Phelps first medal attempt in London. Viewers were spoiled by news that Lochte won gold and Phelps placed fourth.

In the era of social media, it is hard to avoid seeing the results before the tape-delayed events air on television. While NBC is live streaming the Olympics online, for those who prefer to watch it on television, social media and early news reporting have been a series of spoilers. Reporters and athletes have been tweeting results from London in real time and NBC Nightly News even reported the Phelps-Loche results before the race aired in primetime.

Frustrated viewers took to Twitter using the hash tag #NBCFail, which was a trending topic on Twitter during the opening weekend.

Two parody Twitter accounts also popped up, @NBCLiveFail and @NBCDelayed, tweeting results from previous Olympic Games. One tweet read, "BREAKING: Muhammad Ali wins boxing Light Heavyweight gold medal in Rome."

@NBCDelayed had over 1,000 followers in its first hour of tweeting.

Despite the apparent frustration with the tape-delay, according to InsideTV.com, NBC’s broke the record for summer Olympics opening night viewing with over 28 million viewers. This is up 20% from opening night in Beijing and up 40% from Athens.

Have you been following Olympians on social media? What do you think about the tape-delays?