The Olympic motto of "Citius, Altius, Fortius" or "faster, higher, stronger" is being applied aptly to the social media realm.
Already dubbed the Social Media Olympics or Twitter Olympics, the 2012 London Games have been significantly influenced already by the power of microblogging or tweeting.
Who would have thought that 140 characters or less could cause such a social transformation?
There were nine and a-half million mentions of the Olympics on Twitter during the opening ceremony - more tweets than for the entire 2008 Beijing Olympics! It seems technology, and our ability to use it, has been on performance-enhancing substances over the last four years.
This obsession with tweeting, facebooking, YouTubing and texting comes with some costs and benefits. On the plus side it provides a refreshingly intimate look at the Olympics. Tweets from spectators, competitors and close supporters tend to be more reliable and timely than what is fed to us by the official broadcasters.
We may get delayed coverage or unexpected advertisement breaks from the official broadcasters, but we can get pretty accurate tweets from athletes and spectators right there in the moment.
Mike Tindall, for instance, described every trit and trot his royal wife, Zara Phillips, took in the final equestrian event as if his life depended on it. Pity he didn't realise others could do the same regarding his behaviour in Queenstown last year.
But that is old news, and tweeting is all about being up to the minute and in the moment.
Through social media athletes have a platform upon which they can vent their concerns, opinions, and views and some are getting a little too caught up in the moment, despite warnings from the IOC that anything of a political or commercial nature is considered inappropriate.
There is zero tolerance of tweets of a racist nature, something two of the 10,800 athletes found out the hard way.
Complaints regarding team uniforms and sponsorship restrictions, however, may result in a slap on the wrist but luckily not a ticket home.
Athletes of the future will need to be advised how to manage their time leading up to critical events, as illustrated by Australian swimmer Emily Seebohm who suggested her obsession with Twitter may have cost her a gold in the 100m backstroke event.
The uncensored nature of tweeting can provide breath-taking honesty which unfortunately isn't always pretty.
Fans and journalists tweet to vent their frustrations at some athletes (British diver Tom Daley) and broadcasters (NBC and SKY).
Social media sites empower the participants, spectators, and at-home viewers to interact more intimately, get the inside story, and avoid some of the commercialism associated with such a mega-event. There are also "what the?" moments going viral which provide some rare spontaneity and unscriptedness to the micro-managed Olympics.
For instance, the "mystery lady in red" parading with the Indian team during the opening ceremony, and gymnast Aly Raisman's parents reacting to her uneven bar routine as if they were performing every move with her, are refreshingly ad-lib moments to be cherished.
The Y and Z generation doesn't want to be told what, when, how, and from whom to get their knowledge, so social media is not going to go away. We must ride the social media wave which adds another layer to the colourful story that is the Olympics, and learn how to do this as athletes, fans, and journalists in a way that won't be too damaging.
Then again, maybe those expressing their thoughts in this way want to make a stand.
Athletes used to hold their leather-gloved hands in the air or wave their indigenous flags during victory laps to make a statement via photographs and television coverage during the Games.
Those days and rare moments may be surpassed by the social movements and reactions achieved via social media. Like other technological advances associated with the Olympics, we must learn to embrace and accept change. It's what makes the Olympics one of a kind.
Now if only I could say that in 140 characters or less.
