World Cup fans turn to social media to vent fury
Texting is the most popular social media for those watching the World Cup, according to research by the Internet Advertising Bureau and ESPN.
The IAB and ESPN have teamed up to research viewing habits, mobile usage, social media adoption and attitudes to sponsorship over the World Cup.
In Its latest wave, it found that 41% of respondents would be likely to text a friend before the match, 43% during and 45% afterwards.
The joint research uses a panel of 3,300 UK sports fans. Other findings reveal that a quarter (26%) expect to watch weekday World Cup matches via the internet at work, and a third (33%) of respondents said they were “more likely” to watch games online in 2010 compared to 2006.
In addition, 27% said they were “more likely” to follow games using on their mobiles in 2010 compared to 2006 and one in twelve (8%) of those surveyed went even further, stating that they were more likely to actually watch games on their mobiles when compared to the previous World Cup.
The research was undertaken before England’s defeat by Germany last night (27 June), which was marred by a decision to disallow a goal by Frank Lampard.
When asked when they’d be most likely to comment on a World Cup website, 17% said they’d choose to before a game, 21% said they would afterwards and only 7% said they would during a game.
Last night, fans were venting their fury across the Internet. By far this is the most popular activity, which is incentive-driven and 55% of the panel say they are taking part in World Cup competitions online.
A further 44% were likely to watch and share videos using sites such as YouTube, whilst almost a quarter (24%) were likely to visit dedicated Facebook pages. Meanwhile 18% of men planned to listen to podcasts and 18% said they would be downloading World Cup apps on their mobiles.
