"Explore London 2012"

Posted at: 06/19/2012 5:26 PM | Updated at: 06/19/2012 6:18 PM
By: Robin De Wind | WHEC.com

There is a little more than a month to go before the opening of the Olympic Games in London. Facebook is launching an official London Olympics page for fans who want to connect with their favorite athletes. 

The 2012 London Olympics could make these summer games the first truly social one. “The Explore London 2012” page is already up and ready for fans. 

If you’re on Facebook, you are a click away from getting to know all of your favorite Olympic athletes. “Explore London 2012 is the first venture of this magnitude for the online social network. The page offers profile pages of hundreds of athletes, national teams and is available in 22 languages to Facebook’s 900 million users. 

Tom Proietti is the Resident Scholar in Media at St. John Fisher College. He says this is a natural progression for Facebook. 

Proietti said, “This is going to be highly interactive. As a human, it says write on my wall, I'll respond to your questions I'm going to post videos, there's going to be interesting photos. There are all levels of interaction, as you said, two years we never anticipated this.” 

You can connect with Riga pole vaulter Jenn Shur, Pittsford’s Abby Wambach or Canandaigua’s Ryan Lochte. 

Proietti predicts Facebook will eventually help all sports fans connect. 

Proietti said, “We've already seen what Facebook can do with the presidential elections. I think there are new levels things like the World Series, the Super Bowl, and all major sporting events.”

Proietti says the athletes will likely have to be coached on how to interact and communicate to become more engaging with fans. Proietti adds Twitter is already head of the curve with engaging fans and viewers.

To find "Explore London 2012" on Facebook, click here.

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