Facebook launches Explore London 2012 to connect fans, athletes

In preparation for the upcoming Summer Olympics, Facebook has launched Explore London 2012, a dedicated page meant to connect fans and athletes.

The page features athletes, national teams and sports categories for users to “like” and get status updates in order to follow the action.

Facebook also said broadcasters and sponsors will be added in the future. However, the Explore London 2012 page will stay clean of ads, according to a Facebook official who spoke with TechCrunch, attributing the decision to “the notion of a ‘clean venue’ ” at the Olympics.

Currently, the page features 250 of the event’s 10,000 athletes, but will ramp up as the Games draw closer. The International Olympic Committee told TechCrunch it has been working with Facebook for the last year and a half to get the effort going.

The Explore London 2012 page will also update over time to include photos from past Olympics as well as information from notable events, according to TechCrunch.

It is all part of an effort to turn the 2012 London Games into the first social Olympics, and as a result, the IOC also has plans for other social networks.

Google+ will also have a dedicated page, Twitter will have a branded page, Foursquare will have an Olympic Day for users to check in, and the IOC is also working with Tumblr and Instagram, according to TechCrunch.

“The Olympics has been connecting fans with memorable sporting events and moments for more than a century, first in the stadiums, then through television and now on social media,” said Mark Adams, the IOC’s director of communications, in a statement. “It makes sense to give fans the best experience we can and these will be the first truly ‘social’ Games.”

RELATED:

Facebook completes rumored acquisition of Face.com

Coalition to Facebook: Please don’t market to our kids

Facebook to pay $10 million in ‘Sponsored Stories’ settlement

Follow Salvador Rodriguez on Facebook, Twitter or Google+