TRI-STATE (WFIE) -
There's a good chance many of you knew what was going to happen on Monday night during the Olympics hours in advance thanks to social media.
More of us have Facebook and Twitter now than during any past Olympic games, and covering these events has become a sport itself for us in the news business.
We deal with this every day. We live in a world where our viewers want news instantly. We give it to them every day on their smartphones, on Facebook, and our website.
But covering an event that won't be seen here until six hours later has become an Olympic event itself.
"People want results immediately," Rich Miller said.
Miller, who is part of the 14 News web team, is used to posting breaking news to our website and Facebook page. But on Monday, he was part of a conversation that probably took place in every newsroom across the country. How to cover the Olympics on social media?
"There are millions and millions of people out there who they're kind of torn. They want the results but at he same time they don't want to be spoiled," Miller said.
Finding that balance is something journalists were forced to tackle over the weekend. 14 News' Erin Meyer made a point to say I wouldn't be getting a gold medal for what I posted on my Facebook page on Saturday.
"One of the first things I see is Ryan Lochte wins the 400 meter IM and beat Michael Phelps and I didn't want to know that. I wanted to watch it in Primetime," Meyer said.
She wasn't alone. Some said knowing the outcome in advance ruined it for them. Then there was this comment from one of my high school teachers who even threatened to defriend me.
"As a former student, I thought I thought you better," said Barbara Hart. "I don't like to know the ending before I read it. I don't want to know the end of a show before the curtain falls and I do not want to know what athletes win what events in the Olympics."
Understanding both sides, 14 News announced on Monday that the information will still be posted, but with a spoiler alert warning.
"If they don't want to know, they can still be our Facebook fan or read our website and they're not going to get the results unless they actually go chase them down," Miller said.
If you would like to watch any of the events live, you can download a free app from NBC called Live Extra.
Even with the results posted early, 36 million people watched the Olympics last night on NBC. That's the largest audience ever for day two of the Olympic Games.
Copyright 2012 WFIE. All rights reserved.
More of us have Facebook and Twitter now than during any past Olympic games, and covering these events has become a sport itself for us in the news business.
