London 2012 Olympics Releases Rules for Athletes on Blogs, Twitter and Facebook

by abournenesn

Jun 27, 2011

The International Olympic Committee released its social media guidelines on Monday for athletes and media to follow during the 2012 London Olympics. And they won’t prevent Michael Phelps tweeting out more pictures of himself hanging out with Justin Bieber.

“As a general rule,” the guidelines state, “the IOC encourages all social media and blogging activity at the Olympic Games.” However, the Olympics’ governing body doesn’t want to see social media used “for commercial and/or advertising purposes.”

Athletes are warned to tweet only in the first person and to avoid disclosing private or confidential information about other participants in the Summer Games. They’re not allowed to use the Olympic symbol of the five interlocking rings in anything posted to blogs or social media, either.

Enough fine print for you yet? Athletes also have to be on their best behavior. The IOC insists that blogs, Facebook posts, and tweets must “at all times conform to the Olympic spirit” and avoid obscenities.

And what happens in the Olympic Village (on video) stays in the Olympic Village. Pictures are OK, but athletes are not allowed to release anything filmed in the living quarters.

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