Germany Smashes Argentina in World Cup Finals, Leading to Record Setting Social Media Bonanza

As millions of people hopped online to watch Germany trounce Argentina in the final game of the 2014 World Cup on Sunday, a number of the biggest social media platforms on the web experienced record breaking user activity. According to a report from The Guardian, Twittersurpassed its previous record of 580,166 tweets per minute set during the July 8 game between Germany and Brazil, reaching 618,725 tweets per minute. Facebook broke its 245 million interactions record set during the 2013 Super Bowl, surpassing 280 million statuses, likes, and comments during Germany’s championship match.

This Serves to Cement Social Media’s Place in Global Conversation
The records are yet another sign of where both public discourse and the consumption of media continue to head. The World Cup, more than ever before, was watched online throughout the world. Some carriers, like ESPN’s online streaming service, couldn’t handle the load, crashing on numerous occasions. Accessing Facebook or Twitter during the final game of the international event was something like waiting for a movie trailer to load before broadband internet became mainstream.

“Although the sheer volume of interactions would make one think that social media is a good marketing avenue, as a corollary it also is one of the worst for most businesses,” says Andreas Huttenrauch, Chief Digital Strategist at Globi Web Solutions. “If your audience is not everyone and your message is not über-fantastic, there’s almost no way to stand out amongst all the noise.”

All of this to say there is a reason Facebook can pull in $7.87 billion in mostly ad-based revenue each year. Whether it’s the international crisis in Ukraine or the biggest event in the world of international soccer, Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms like them are the central hub for communications in the 21st century, making them extremely lucrative marketing space indeed.