At 12 noon on the 9th of June, traffic around South Africa came to a standstill as citizens everywhere spent five minutes producing a joyful racket, celebrating the approach of the soccer World Cup by blowing their vuvuzelas. The plastic soccer horns have been loved by local sports fans for many years and have become one of the most talked-about features of the 2010 soccer World Cup.

Those involved in search marketing services noticed the immediate effect of the “vuvuzela moment” on social networking platforms, particularly Twitter, as the vuvuzela suddenly became the focus of attention throughout South Africa. Hundreds of local fans anticipating the soccer World Cup changed their tweets to “PAAaaAaAaaArrRRrP” and “BzZzzZZbzZZbzzZ” as they joined in the vuvuzela moment. Others tweeted more coherently about welcoming the soccer World Cup and being proudly South African.

The vuvuzela’s new-found fame spread rapidly, and soon international followers of the soccer World Cup were tweeting about the loud proud soccer horn. Before long the vuvuzela reached the coveted status of “trending topic” on Twitter and earned worldwide recognition. Online mentions of the vuvuzela (both positive and negative) have spread across the globe. According to Brands Eye, the United States is in the lead with 46% of vuvuzela mentions, the UK is in second place with 9% and soccer World Cup host country South Africa is accountable for 3% of online vuvuzela mentions. These mentions, varying from affectionate to downright annoyed, are still coming through thick and fast, with over 5000 of them reaching the online audience in a 24 hour period.

During the soccer World Cup South Africa has seen triumphs and tragedies, celebrations and commiserations, and through it all the low, loud note of the vuvuzela has prevailed. It has also become an excellent example of the power of social media to propel a conversation topic from obscurity to global celebrity status. Soccer fans all over the globe are buying the colourful horns (to the annoyance of many spouses and neighbours) and it has become the must-have accessory for the 2010 soccer World Cup.

It seems the vuvuzela is aware of the role played by social media in its rise to fame – it is buzzing constantly on Twitter and Facebook – check it out and take the opportunity to connect with a South African soccer World Cup icon!

Related Posts

  1. Beware the vegetarian who Tweets
  2. South Africa all a-Twitter
  3. Welcome to my world and inside SMM
  4. Virtual reality closes the gap between the real world
  5. Promoted Tweets: Necessary Evil or Useful Targeted Advertising?

Tags: , , , ,