World Cup Set to Break Data Records in Social Media

Six days into the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the event is set to break social media engagement records. Fans will generate the most social buzz data of any sporting event in history, according to a report released from the Adobe Digital Index last week. The results are based on more than 69 million social mentions, across 230 countries and territories, talking about the month-long event.

“The World Cup is a global event, as you can see in the data,” says Joe Martin, an analyst at ADI. His team captured data from blogs, Facebook, Google+, Reddit, Twitter, Dailymotion, Flickr, Instagram, Tumblr, VK, Disqus, Foursquare, Metacafe, Wordpress, and YouTube for its analysis.

Even before the first kickoff in São Paulo, the World Cup set social media records. In the month leading up to the event, it received more social mentions than either the Super Bowl or the Sochi Olympics. In addition, Google reports that the World Cup generates more search interest than the Super Bowl, Olympics, and Tour De France combined. People in 230 countries have mentioned the World Cup. This amounts to people in 90 percent of the world, compared to those in 84 percent who chimed in for the Sochi Olympics and 78 percent for the Super Bowl, according to ADI. 

Data discoveries

Japan is talking the most about the World Cup, with 37 percent of mentions coming from the country. The UK takes second place (11 percent), followed by Brazil (9 percent), Germany (8 percent) and the U.S. (8 percent).

ADI also tracked sentiment related to the futbol frenzy. Comments have been mostly positive: 59 percent of mentions are related to admiration, joy and anticipation for the event.

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo received the most buzz leading up to the event, but he’s since been surpassed by Brazil’s Neymar after the star scored two goals in the first match.

A data goldmine for companies 

Companies are using insights from the World Cup to drive business. For instance, Google is analyzing how mobile users in international markets like Brazil and Germany use their smartphones to interact with the matches, according to Fast Company. The company also created an in-house editorial unit that will mine World Cup statistics for data-driven journalism for the duration of the matches.

For new findings from social media buzz, the ADI team will be updating stats and insights throughout the matches via Twitter at @AdobeIndex. 

h/t: CMO.com