Blackberry Messenger has taken over many of our lives, having become the underground twitter. RIM just released some interesting facts about BBM and its usage during the World Cup.
Over the past month, RIM saw a clear correlation between BBM traffic and significant events during the World Cup as fans shared their delights and despairs in real time with friends and family during live match action.
Throughout the World Cup, there were several notable moments that correlated with BBM traffic. Some of the most significant included:
- During a thrilling World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain on Sunday at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, Spanish International and FC Barcelona Midfielder Andrés Iniesta scored the winning goal only three minutes before the end of extra-time, which – as the lone goal of the match – crowned Spain Champions of the tournament. At the time of this exciting goal, that was viewed around the world, BlackBerry Messenger traffic increased immediately by 280% as virtual communities of fans shared their reactions through BBM.
- USA v England, June 12th (Match Day 2): traffic spiked 35% globally at the time of the first goal, scored by England.
- Netherlands v Brazil, July 2nd (Match Day 20): traffic jumped by 122% globally at the time of the second goal, scored by the Netherlands.
- Argentina v Germany, July 3rd (Match Day 21): traffic rose by 178% globally at the time of the 3rd German goal.
BBM truly is becoming a whole social network of its own. I interact with people around the world on the daily as each day unfolds and have found, in some instances, that it is more effective than email or twitter or facebook. And I probably contributed to one or two of those traffic spikes.