For cricket enthusiasts or recent IPL converts, the latest season of the IPL has been a rollercoaster living up to the twists and turns and the instant exhilaration that the format promises. While the novelty of the IPL format is often spoken about in context of the growth in cricket viewership patterns it has contributed to, it’s also interesting to see how the adoption of social media tools has enabled the viewers/fans to extend their involvement beyond viewing and help the format gain a cult following.
And the award for the most viewed TV channel goes to…YouTube
The recent study by CISCO (about India topping the list of nations with most restrictive policies towards social media tools usage among enterprises) notwithstanding, the success of IPL on YouTube has shown how consumption over internet is becoming mainstream. Watching the IPL through live streaming is also quite a departure from the days when one would go to Rediff/Yahoo to catch the latest scores.
This story shares some whopping statistics about the number of subscribers/views of the IPL YouTube channel. It’s also interesting to see this in context of the recent media reports about the IPL screenings on big screen not taking off. There may be a surge at the big screens during the finals but with fans and their peers present online for the most part, the internet now provides a unique community experience to these fans.
Move beyond the post match mortem over the watercooler, it’s the age of Twittercooler
One of the most favourite phrases that unites Indians in transit across class, caste, region, religion is – “Score kya hua hai” (What is the score?) With Twitter, one no longer has to worry about being on top of the score, with friends sharing a ball-by-ball update. If radio commentary was 1.0 and sms alerts 2.0, then twitter is definitely is 3.0 for all those looking for updates. More importantly however, no longer does one need to wait for that session in college canteen the next day or by the office watercooler, Twitter gives the perfect opportunity to broadcast why Sachin Tendulkar is the best and how Kings XI could have stood a chance if Yuvraj would have focused more on his game. A recent study by Nielsen shows how Twitter is the third most popular platform for IPL related discussions on social media.
The Cricket pitch comes to Facebook
As this title of a recent post on Facebook blog shows, there is a whole new world that has opened up for IPL fans on Facebook. Most of the teams such as Deccan Chargers, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals have their own fan pages where fans “can engage with other fans and get exclusive behind-the-scenes looks at your favorite teams and players”. With IPL online games to live chats with team captains, the experience truly extends from a few hours of mere sport to an-all pervasive lifestyle.
Here are some of the other interesting resources we came across about the IPL –
- The State of Indian Premiere League (IPL 3) on Social Media in 2010 – an interesting analysis around the growing IPL social media pie
- If IPL was played on the Web 2.0 – a humorous take on a fantasy league on social media comprising FB Super Kings, LinkedIn Chargers, Knight Writers among others
Do share in case you come across some interesting examples of social media fuelling the spirit of IPL, enabling fans to congregate not just within the vicinity of their living rooms, eating joints, pubs, friends’ dens but to collaborate with a much wider universe of people who share their passion for the phenomenon called IPL.
