During this time, the term 'FIFA' was mentioned more than 5.5 million times worldwide. Because South Africa was involved in the scandal, South Africans accounted for over 71,000 of these tweets. The #FIFA hashtag collected 1.2 million mentions worldwide with South Africans tweeting over 29,000 times.
"The social media platforms that we have access to have turned the world into a 'global village' and the average Joe into a journalist," says Marius Greeff, Commercial Director at Habari Media. "Any event that happens anywhere in the world can be instantly recorded and uploaded into the ether, making it available for anyone to comment on and share. Twitter is ideal for this and a scandal like FIFA certainly sparks debate."
Sepp Blatter's name did not escape mention with it appearing nearly a million times worldwide during the search period. As an already popular man, Sepp became even more popular for all the wrong reasons.
Although not only 'FIFA' news, Khaya Dlanga's tweet: 'Kim K pregnant. Caitlyn Jenner. Chiefs losing players and coach. Sepp Blatter. This week has been insane, and it's only Tuesday' received 577 retweets while our very own Minister of Sport @MbalulaFikile's tweet "Whatever happens to Sepp Blatter am available for FIFA Presidency #SeppBlatterResigns" received 639 retweets and 261 'favourites'.
Maybe Adv Dali Mpofu (@AdvDali_Mpofu) said it best in his tweet "Is it just me or did Danny Jordaan say last week that he was the right man for the Mayorship because HE brought us the FIFA World Cup? Er....".
Er....indeed!
"Bringing the context back to branding, Twitter is the ideal communication platform. As consumers we're permanently on the move, but always have our mobiles at hand and therefore prefer short bite sized news pieces that Twitter provides. What's important is for brands to recognise the importance of connecting with their consumers and to find ways of utilising 140 characters to your benefit," concludes Greeff.
