Tokyo Olympics 2020: Organizers launch Hindi Twitter account for India in a bid to increase engagement

What's the story?

The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 have launched a Hindi Twitter account for India in a bid to increase their engagement with Hindi-speaking sports fans.

The background

Earlier, the International Olympic Channel was also launched in Hindi in a bid to increase engagement. The online platform had garnered widespread praise and was even lauded by India's Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.

The content on the Hindi IOC revolves around international star athletes as well as the local heroes who will be representing the nation at the Olympics.

General Manager of IOC's global Olympic Channel, Mark Parkman had remarked (as per the Republic World):

"The availability of the Hindi language on the global digital platform is a significant step in the Olympic Channel’s evolution as we look to create more personalised experiences for Olympic fans around the world. This is a great way to engage with more fans in growing markets and to tell the great Olympic stories in a way that connects directly to them as we build excitement on the road to Tokyo 2020.”

The heart of the matter

Now, the Tokyo 2020 organizers have won hearts of more Indian fans by launching the official account for India. The name of the account is '#Tokyo2020 for India' and here is the link to access it. It has already been certified by the popular social media platform and given the blue checkmark badge.

However, one thing which has to be noted here is that the Hindi tweets are not in the Hindi language manuscript - the 'Devanagari' - but instead in Roman English script.

The first tweet on the #Tokyo2020 for India account stated '#Tokyo2020 MEIN AAPKA SWAAGAT HAIN!' which translates to 'You are welcome to #Tokyo2020.'

Hum Spanish, Korean, Hindi, aur French mein naye #Tokyo2020 Twitter accounts ke launch ki ghoshna karne ke liye bahut utsahit hain!#Tokyo2020 mein sirf 158 din baaki hain! Hum aapke saath is safar par jaane ke liye intezar nahin kar sakte! pic.twitter.com/dkeh0Noxlm

— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) February 17, 2020

The above tweet has a GIF which shows 'Namaste' or the respectful greeting said when giving a namaskar.

The caption 'Hum Spanish, Korean, Hindi, aur French mein naye #Tokyo2020 Twitter accounts ke launch ki ghoshna karne ke liye bahut utsahit hain! #Tokyo2020 mein sirf 158 din baaki hain! Hum aapke saath is safar par jaane ke liye intezar nahin kar sakte!' translates to 'We are excited to launch the #Tokyo2020 accounts in Spanish, Korean, Hindi, and French. There are only 158 days left for #Tokyo2020 and we can not wait to begin this journey along with you.'

The organizers of the account also tweeted a quiz relating to the quadrennial extravaganza in one of the latest tweets.

As of 19 February 2020, the new Hindi Twitter account by the organizers has got 403 followers, all organically. It also follows multiple renowned Indian sportspersons and personalities such as Abhinav Bindra, Rohan Bopanna, Rani Rampal, PR Sreejesh, Apurvi Chandela, Mary Kom, Gagan Narang, Vijender Singh, Heena Sidhu, Kidambi Srikanth, Dipa Karmakar, Sakshi Malik, Sajan Prakash, Manu Bhaker, and Manika Batra to name a few.

What's next?

Tokyo 2020 organizers also have specifically tailored regional Twitter accounts in Korean, Spanish, and French languages. They seem to have struck a chord with the regional audience by localizing the content and further amplified the fanbase of the Summer Olympics.

---