LeBron James Wins Social Media Gold

This chart shows the top 10 Olympic athletes with the most fans/followers on Facebook and Twitter.

We are currently witnessing the first real social media Olympics. The International Olympic Committee has struck partnerships with Twitter, Facebook and Youtube and Olympic athletes from around the world are embracing social media to support each other, share their opinions and offer exclusives glimpses of life in the Olympic Village.

Never before have fans had the chance to get so close to the Olympic action with all its inside stories. Besides all of its merits, we have also witnessed the down side of social media use though: Two athletes, one Greek and one Swiss, have been sent home after making racially offensive comments on Twitter.

The above chart shows the most popular Olympic Athletes on Facebook and Twitter. LeBron James takes home the gold with four fellow Americans making the Top 10. British athletes, who prove so capable of using their home-court advantage, have some catching-up to do in the social media sphere. Tennis gold medalist Andy Murray (ranked 18th) and diver Tom Daley (19th) are the only British athletes to make the Top 20.