First Twitterlympics: London 2012

Twitter was launched in 2006. But it didn't impact the Beijing 2008 Olympics; as much as it impacted the London 2012.

Safely getting the London 2012- the sobriquet of " The First Twitterlympics".

An Olympics where athletes and fans headed on-line to share their highs - and lows - of the first social media Games.

The World discussed almost everything related to the Games: from praising the winners, to wondering at the weight of this year's hefty gold medals (Although in the Gold medal the Gold is just 9 grams), to sharing the disappointment of a defeat, to calling an athlete ungrateful.

The organisers were keen to have London 2012 ad the first social media games. No wonder, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the web, got the Games rolling during his starring role in the opening ceremony with the words: "This is for everyone #london2012 #oneweb #openingceremony @webfoundation @w3c".

But not everythign was official: For instance, even before the Olympics hashtags could make their presence felt, the Director Danny Boyle and tens of thousands of others, encouraged the fans to keep details of the £27 million extravaganza secret. The hashtag used was #savethesurprise.

Usain Bolt, not only set a record on tracks;  but also on the social networking site. More than 1,300 tweets a second, were made, mentioning the name of the world's fastest man following his 200m final.

"Record alert!" Twitter said. "@usainbolt sets a new Olympic Games conversation record with over 80,000 TPM (tweets per minute) for his 200m victory."

When a spectator threw a bottle on the track, seconds before the men's 100 metres final, the Twitterverse, actively condemned the action. Cyclist Laura Trott also turned to Twitter when caught on camera kissing team-mate and fellow double Olympic champion Jason Kenny at the women's beach volleyball finals. The 20-year-old wrote: "So yes its out there me and @JasonKenny107 are dating. Been a little while now just didn't want the distraction before the games x."

Some over enthusiastive and patriotic fans on Twitter have to face some police action for their Twitter utterings as well. A 17-year-old youth was issued with a harassment warning after Daley was sent a malicious tweet following the defeat in the men's synchronised 10m platform diving.

Even some participants have to face the consequence of their indiscretion. Switzerland defender Michel Morganella was expelled from the Games for directing an allegedly racist insult at South Koreans, while Greek triple jumper Voula Papachristou was not even allowed to travel to the Olympics after posting a message which mocked African immigrants.

Tory MP Aiden Burley also found himself at the centre of a Twitter storm after he said the opening ceremony was "leftie multicultural crap" - comments which Prime Minister David Cameron later described as "idiotic".

Twitter is a real time messaging service and hence bets suited for London Olympics 2012 -- the First Twitterlympics! --------

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