Let the games continue! We’re in the midst of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, and the whole world is watching. Literally. Because of social media and live streaming technologies, anyone with an Internet connection or cell phone can view the 15 winter sports, 86 medal events, and 250 American athletes throughout the entire games, ending Feb. 28. 
Clearly with the abundant social media and interactive technology initiatives, the 2010 Winter Olympics are making a push to bring in younger mobile users. Teens may not be totally into to Olympics – give them a two-minute online video instead – even though the Olympics should typically have a lot of appeal for this demographic. Most of the Olympians are in their late teens or early 20’s, prime competing years. Daredevil sports like the extreme ski cross, a supercharged, multi-skier race, is a making its debut this year and sure to appeal to the blood-thirsty video crowd. The Flying Tomato – 23-year-old snowboarder Shaun White – is back in the halfpipe. What young girl doesn’t love figure skating? And of course, the US Hockey team is heading toward a medal, or so we hope.
We like the chatter on TeamUSA, whether it’s about the garish colors of speedster’s Ted Ligety’s garish neon suit or the Olympic voting (“Which Olympic moment fires you up the most?” (Top answer: USA vs. Canada 5-3 hockey victory.)
More teen gamemanship: the International Olympic Committee approved the creation of the Youth Olympic Games geared towards teens to help fight obesity and to keep the Olympics relevant in this age demographic. The first ever Youth Olympic Games will take place this August in Singapore. There are already all kinds of interactive media and widgets for use on their Web site.
I don’t know about you, but I’m game!
Cindy Atoji contributed to this report.
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