As the lights in Sochi dim, Facebook is taking a look back at the massive global engagement around the sporting events officially known as the XXII Olympic Winter Games. Athletes shared “Sochi selfies” and medal moments, expressed disappointment and connected with fans, as millions of people around the world joined the conversation around this major event in world sport.
Nearly 45 million people were talking about the Winter Olympics on Facebook throughout the Sochi Games, February 6 – 23, 2014, for a total of 120 million combined posts, comments and likes. Facebook’s data team tracked the most-buzzed-about events by country, and put together a series of maps showing how mentions of different sports shifted on a daily basis around the world. Take a look at the video in this post:
Hockey and Figure Skating dominated the conversation, as you can see by the red and blue colors shifting on the map over the course of the Games. Here is a list of the Top 5 most-mentioned events worldwide:
1. Ice Hockey
2. Figure Skating
3. Bobsleigh
4. Curling
5. Luge
Some Olympic athletes were mentioned more often than others in the course of conversation. American snowboarder Shaun White did not medal in Sochi, but he still topped the Facebook’s buzz ranking list of most-mentioned athletes. TJ Oshie’s shootout goal to clinch Team USA’s victory over Russia was a big talker, too. Oshie ranks second in Facebook mentions, followed by South Korean figure skater Yuna Kim. Here are the top five:
1. Shaun White
2. TJ Oshie
3. Yuna Kim
4. Jenny Jones
5. Carey Price
Men and women ages 18 – 34 were doing most of the talking about the Olympics. They lead our global list of top demos buzzing about the events of the Sochi Games, Feb. 6 – 23:
1. Men: 18-34
2. Women: 18-34
3. Women: 35-49
4. Men: 35-49
5. Women: 50+
Athletes joined the Facebook conversation from Sochi, sharing their unique perspectives through the lens of their own cameras:
By Alex Walker, Facebook Consumer Content Manager, Robert D’Onofrio, Facebook Data Editor & Dustin Cable, Facebook Data Analyst