The last medals of the 2012 Summer Olympics were presented this past Sunday, closing in on what could be the most controversial, drama-filled Games ever, especially online. From NBC and Twitter, to athletes and judges, virtually every party involved in the Summer Games has been written and tweeted about over the past two weeks — and not always positively.
The wide array of social media channels became an important instrument to gauge how the world felt about every element and moment of these Games, and because of that, the gripes that manifested and propagated on social media give interesting insight into how digital media has changed the way we experience the Olympics. Here’s a rundown, via Storify, of some of the more interesting controversies at the Games and how the social media world reacted.
Jenny Xie is the PBS MediaShift editorial intern. Jenny is a rising senior at Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying architecture and management. She is a digital-media junkie fascinated by the intersection of media, design, and technology. Jenny can be found blogging for MIT Admissions, tweeting @canonind, and sharing her latest work and interests here.