For some reason I found it inevitable to escape the constant pre-Super Bowl chit chat this year. Maybe it was due to the fact that neither team has won the title in years, or because pop-fans all over the world could not wait to see Beyonce’s performance at halftime, or maybe it was because the team’s head coaches happened to be brothers…yes, I said brothers.
Everyone watches for something different: commercials, halftime, or football itself. If my preferred team is not playing I personally watch for the commercials and maybe the halftime act, depending on who it is. This year I admit I was patiently awaiting the Ravens and 49ers to finish the first half so I could see whether all of the “Beyonce hype” I had participated in was worth it (which it was). Whatever the reason may be, people across the nation were buzzing about Super Bowl XLVII and not just verbally. With the increasing number of ways to stay connected available to us I was curious to see how many people actually watched the Super Bowl on television this year. Wanting to know more I went to ESPN’s website seeking some numbers.
This years Super Bowl raked in over 100 million viewers, the fourth Super Bowl in history to do so. In all honesty though, that does not surprise me due to Beyonce performing at halftime. A talented singer that blew up in the 90’s and is currently still producing number one hits is bound to bring in millions of viewers herself. What surprised me was ESPN’s report on social media posts during the game. Straight from ESPN’s website itself, here are the numbers that did shock me. “There were an estimated 47.7 million social media posts during the game, according to the company Trendrr TV, which tracks activity on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. That compares with 17 million during last year’s game and 3 million in 2010, Trendrr said.”
Why might I find 47.7 million social media posts so surprising when I myself posted, too? Mainly because last years Super Bowl was the most watched in history with 112 million viewers, and there were only 17 million social media posts during that game compared to nearly 50 million this year. I am in shock at how quickly social media is growing. It is amazing people had time to actually watch the game considering the amount of tweets, statuses, and picture updates happening online at the same exact time. With that many social media posts I don’t think people were watching their television as closely as they were their Facebook and Twitter news feeds.