Travelling to the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Travelling across the planet (for some fans) has never been easier. We’re in a golden age for travelling, where globetrotters can find out everything they need to know about their destination and become comfortable before they depart for their destination.

Social media has played a major role in helping link up those who are travelling to those within the desired destination. I’ll use myself as an example here. As soon as I was informed that I was one of the lucky fans to receive tickets to the World Cup in Brazil, I started researching. Twitter has turned out to be a very useful tool, as I was able to find out about a couple of different websites dedicated to proving information for incoming World Cup fans. One of my favourite sites so far is www.inbrazil2014.com, which covers all 12 host cities in detail by providing information on how to get to Brazil, accommodations, food, entertainment, and highlights of each city.

Twitter has also been a great source of information about the history and culture of Brazil. I am following many different soccer journalists, fans, and historians that help me better understand the teams who will be competing, as well as the importance of soccer to Brazil as a country.

Are you excited for the upcoming World Cup? If you are, then how are you getting information about the tournament?

Being a Sports Fan in Today’s Social Media World

 

The way sports fans watch their favourite teams has significantly changed over the past 10 years.

Think back to the early 2000’s. Remember how we experienced sports? We would gather with friends at a bar or at home and watch the game in person together. Then, once the game was complete, we would talk about it (again, in person) either that day or the next.

What about now? Whether watching the game at home, or watching it live at the event fans have the opportunity to interact with each other in real time through social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Vine. Real time interactions also allows fans to know about something important (such as an injury, the current score, etc.) the moment it happens.

I came across a great article about this topic entitled “How Sports Fans Engage With Social Media” (http://mashable.com/2013/10/03/sports-fans-social-media). The article surprised me with some interesting statistics that were gathered from a survey given to sports fans. Here’s the most interesting of the findings:

-Nearly twice as many people use Facebook as compared to Twitter, but once game day rolls around Twitter is the social network of choice

-Google+ and YouTube are rising in popularity, and are showing the most growth year to year.

I am definitely an example of what the article is talking about. I’m constantly checking Twitter throughout the game, and posting updates and reaction for others to see. It’s amazing to see how different I watch sports now, compared to as little as 5 years ago.

Are you interacting on Twitter as you watch your favourite team play? Do you enjoy having instant access to the most important statistics, highlights, and reactions of fans?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Feel free to comment below!