IPC publishes Sochi 2014 social media guidelines

“Following the success of London 2012, where Paralympians took the social media world by storm, we now hope to transfer that success over to winter sports and make Sochi 2014 the most successful Winter Games ever on digital media.”

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has published its social media guidelines for accredited persons at the upcoming Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, and it actively encourages athletes, staff and attendees to embrace social media to share their life-changing experiences with the world.

Sochi 2014 will put athletes at the heart of the Paralympic Movement’s social media strategy once again, giving the global online community a behind-the-scenes look at the world’s third-largest sporting event. Athletes will be actively encouraged to share their experiences via photos, videos and postings from the opening, closing and victory ceremonies, the Paralympic Village and other venues in and around Sochi.

Craig Spence, IPC Communications and Media Director, said: “Following the success of London 2012, where Paralympians took the social media world by storm, we now hope to transfer that success over to winter sports and make Sochi 2014 the most successful Winter Games ever on digital media.

“Many Paralympians are already very active across social media, and we’d like to encourage them to further embrace and build their networks so that they can become household athlete names and get the Movement trending worldwide once again.

“The guidelines at the same time as opening the Games to a far wider audience also aim to protect the integrity of the Paralympic Games and Movement, and anyone associated with them.”

As proven at London 2012 when #Paralympics was Twitter’s top trending sporting event of the year, social media allows the Paralympic Movement to engage new audiences and broaden the reach and appeal of both the Games and the Movement.

During the London 2012 Games, the IPC’s official Facebook attracted over 82 million page views, 10 million videos were viewed via YouTube.com/ParalympicSportTV, and there were over 1.5 million “Paralympic” tweets.

An innovative collaboration between the IPC, London 2012 and Samsung called Samsung Bloggers also proved extremely popular, with 47 athletes producing over 600 behind the scenes video blogs in London that immediately received over 500,000 YouTube views.

For the upcoming Paralympic Winter Games, National Paralympic Committees, International Paralympic Sport Federations and the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee may also publish their own social media guidelines, so long as they operate within the framework set by the IPC guidelines.

The Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games will take place from 7-16 March, drawing 1,650 athletes and officials from 45 countries across 72 medal events in five sports.

Tickets for the event will go on public sale on 27 September.