Wherever you come from, whatever your team, and whichever sports you love, you can get closer to the action at this summer’s Commonwealth Games with Twitter.
Hosted by @Glasgow2014, the Games start tomorrow with more than 1,000 athletes from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England competing, two thirds (66%) of whom are on Twitter, along with many more from around the world.
Behind the scenes
With two exciting installations inside the Athletes’ Village, Twitter will bring you closer than ever to the Games. The Vine 360 Booth will make its UK debut, bringing the Games to life in six-second videos of the participants; follow along with @TweetCam2014.
@unicef_uk will also give people a unique behind-the-scenes perspective on the Games with @TwitterMirror, showing athletes during their down time.
The organisers will be displaying Tweets on the big screens at the venues for the athletics, cycling, gymnastics, rugby, hockey and netball.
A real-time social hub, produced especially for the Games by @Stackla, will pull together a selection of great Tweets from the Games on the @Glasgow2014 website.
Broadcaster @BBCSport will feature Twitter content in its programmes, including the evening flagships hosted by @ClareBalding and @MrDanWalker. There will also be a regular social media update on the BBC News channel.
Who to follow
To make sure you don’t miss a thing, follow these Twitter accounts throughout the Games:
This week the Scottish government also launched @Scotland, a new Twitter account which will provide behind the scenes access to some of Scotland’s major events over the course of 2014. Scots from across the country will share the build-up and excitement ahead of events including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (@EdFringe), the Glasgow Comedy Festival (@GlasgowComedy) and the Loch Ness Marathon (@nessmarathon), starting this week with the Commonwealth Games (@Glasgow2014).
Join the conversation
As well as being a popular with governing bodies, athletes and broadcasters, the Games are also set to be popular with Twitter users in the UK. Recent research by Vision Critical* showed that 50% of UK users think the success of London 2012 has made them more interested in the Commonwealth Games, and 58% of UK Twitter users said that they will be following at least some of the Games. 60% of UK Twitter users watching the Games said that they will be using Twitter while they do so.
To join the global conversation, search for the following hashtags on Twitter, or include them in your Tweets:
Twitter and sport go hand in hand — eight of the UK’s ten most-tweeted about moments in 2013 were sport-related, and with 672 million Tweets, Twitter was the place where football fans came together to share in the dramatic highs and lows of the recent #WorldCup.
Over the next two weeks, Twitter is the place to keep up with the Commonwealth Games. The platform will bring athletes and fans closer together than ever before, so be sure to follow along and join the global conversation.
*#Birdsignals research community managed by Vision Critical, UK, June 2014
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