2018 Winter Olympics Media Analysis | Tech News

With the 2018 Winter Olympics officially behind us, one thing stands out as an underlying theme. More than ever before, social media has changed how we absorb news from the event, take in the Olympic experience and engage with athletes. We are transported into Olympic Village cafeterias. We hear the athlete’s first reaction following a competition. We see photos of celebrations and friendships being made.

Digital media, too, has changed—incorporating social media into much of the reporting. Personal anecdotes from athletes’ Twitter feeds, photos from their Instagram accounts and comments from Facebook pages are increasingly part of media coverage.   

But outside of this larger, social-focused media trend, what did we care most about during this year’s Winter Games? Who were the media darlings? What did we talk about most in social media?

We analyzed social media and nearly 30K digital media articles featuring the Olympics and its top athletes to identify who and what captured the biggest share of our attention. Using metrics like virality and volume, and comparing media performance before and during the Olympics, here’s what we found:

Athlete with Most Number of Articles

Shaun White was the media favorite with nearly 4,000 articles total (about 13% of all Olympic coverage).