Social media playing a big role in popularising volleyball

Following the resounding success of the London Olympic Games just a year ago, the rise of the sport could be seen by the increased social media presence of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), professional players and millions of fans across the globe.

Regarded as the first “Social Games”, the 2012 Olympics were also the first time FIVB actively engaged itself with fans on a live, global scale. Covering both the disciplines of volleyball and beach volleyball, the FIVB shared live news updates from each tournament site utilising separate Twitter handles to provide information from both indoor and beach venues. The popularity of the Games, drastically enhanced by the social media, resulted in beach volleyball making headline news around the world as the top 10 of the best Olympic moments on the IOC website.

Two months ago, Thailand hosted the FIVB Girls U18 World Volleyball Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima and the world volleyball governing body had initiated a development project called “Young Writers Programme” to help the designated press officer do the social media on all forms – live interview, twitter, slide show, facebook, side stories and match descriptions.

Not surprisingly, those who missed a chance to watch their teams play at the venue in Nakhon Ratchasima could enjoy great moments and match highlights via the social media.

Throughout this year, the FIVB has enhanced its social media strategy to nearly double its Twitter followers, attracting a global audience and providing both fans and professional players with tournament insights.

The FIVB currently reaches more than 135,000 fans across the globe on Twitter and Facebook. On Twitter alone, the FIVB has more than 45,000 followers, who have regularly received live score updates and images from each tournament, directing people to watch the games online for free on FIVB Web TV, while Facebook has also become the second biggest source of traffic to the FIVB’s website behind search engines.

On YouTube, fans can watch the exclusive reactions from coaches after a match, or behind-the-scenes activities and the emotions involved in the sport. Meanwhile FIVB’s Instagram account has also been a hit among fans and professional players sharing sweet memories and nice photos.

While the local free TV stations have been paying more attention to the live broadcast of volleyball matches than before, millions of Thai fans keep themselves update by watching their team play through weblinks, chatting with friends, through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The future of social media surrounding the sport of volleyball, therefore, looks bright.