The fantastic Social TV site Trendrr announced nearly 17.5 MILLION social media mentions around Super Bowl XLVI.
While I trust their methodology, I’m certain that is definitely on the low-end, considering how many posts on Facebook and Twitter were ABOUT the event, without mentioning it.
Needless to say, it was record-setting – almost 600% more posts than the previous Super Bowl.
So what causes the Super Bowl to be so dang engaging online?
There are, obviously, two main components of the event:
1) The Game: Football lends itself to an action-lag time-action model. With 30 seconds or so in between plays, it’s more than enough time to react via microblog. And with well over 100 plays per game, that’s a lot of time for analysis.
2) The Ads: Companies try to bring their A-game on Super Sunday. It is the biggest TV audience of the year, so any product is worth promoting, be it a movie or a car or a website. The ads have taken on a life of their own, attracting an audience in a crazy self-fulfilling prophecy of good commercials drawing people and with more people, there is greater incentive to produce good spots.
But the reaction is instant and visceral. It’s perhaps the only TV day on the calendar where people actually pay attention to every advertisement.
There is one key conclusion to be made here:
People have an innate need to connect.
Social media allows us to make connections at the speed of information in a way we never could do before.
We watch the game together. We analyze the game together. We absorb branded content together.
Several months ago, I wrote about the role the DVR plays in social TV.
But the Super Bowl transcends such technology.
The Super Bowl is appointment/event TV unlike any other. It’s the communal fireplace we gather around once a year.
It’s about connection and shared experience.
For 364 days a year, we push off such things. We time-shift, we delay, we watch on-demand.
But the Super Bowl is about connections. People connecting with people and people connecting with brands.
It may only happen once a year, but what it reminds us of is a timeless human value.
