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Everyone’s talking about social.

And mobile.

And the Summer Olympics in London.

And how they’ll be the most social games ever.

Stat updates, Twitter chatter and fan engagement…

…All new things in the first ever Summer Olympics since smart phones, tablets and essentially all-things-social have taken off.

Take a look at this infographic comparing 2008 to 2012. And you tell us how you think social media will really affect this summer’s games.

(via Mashable)

Who needs Twitter? Is yelling above the crowd the new form of ‘social’?

When Viktor Troicki took the advice of a fan during his tennis match at Wimbledon, he scored a point against his opponent.

Talk about true fan engagement.

Although crowd-sourcing may not be a pattern Wimbledon officials are keen on instigating, we’re sure Troicki is glad he took the advice.

Talk about fan engagement.

Sports fans who tuned into the US Open ceremony last night for Webb Simpson’s interview saw a man dressed in a Union Jack hat and colors step in front of the camera, making a series of bird calls.

It’s never a dull moment with live TV. And with social media networks a-flutter about the interruption, it’s certain this will be mentioned at plenty of US Open’s to come.

Exhibit A of the downside to social media: You can’t always control what turns viral.

Twitter’s first partnership with a sports league will start this weekend at the Pocono 400 NASCAR race.

Even more, this race will mark the first sporting event with a hashtag in its official name – the Pocono 400 will be presented by #NASCAR.

Various contests and campaigns will be going on, such as the “Tweet Your Seat” contest, where race-goers will enter into a contest on Twitter and the winner will wave the flag to start the race.

A Twitter-based scavenger hunt has been planned for Sunday, and the twitter.com/#NASCAR page will have plenty of tweets following fans and drivers alike.

Whatever the outcome, we’re sure this partnership won’t go unnoticed this weekend.

We’ll be tweeting!

A recent study found that fans who follow their favorite teams on social networks and own smartphones are up to eight times more likely to use location-based, check-in services than the average user.

Check out this infographic showing sports fans’ check-in habits – and why they choose to check in.

What’s the next big gadget coming to the market soon?

Word on the street is that it’s your car.

Intel, the company that brought us the personal computer, is now working with car companies such as Nisaan, Toyota and BMW to create cars that will resemble your mobile device more than the Model T.

These new cars in the works will include cockpit cameras (alerting the driver if he appears drowsy), cloud-computing access, video vehicle surveillance and a “personal assistant” 24/7 electronic concierge.

The concept Infiniti LE premiered at the recent New York International Auto Show, showing the future of the car industry.

All we can say is, enjoy driving now, because it looks like it won’t be long before GM’s Super Cruise system will “steer” the car for you – and you can get back to more important things, like tweeting.

In an effort to increase fan involvement, the NBA is launching official Pinterest and Tumblr accounts – just in time for the playoffs.

Encouraging fans to share pictures of their very own courts, the association is playing up the interest of the playoffs and increasing its conversations with fans – a surefire way to improve its social media plan.

The brand is using Tumblr to showcase recent history-making moments, such as past championship games and riveting moves from popular players. This picture depicts Michael Jordan during the 1994 NBA Finals.

The Pinterest account will display NBA apparel, as well as quirky moments (and hairstyles) unrelated to the actual game of basketball – but endearing to the diehard NBA fan.

The NBA counts more than 260 million fans on Facebook and Twitter, and is hoping for even more after launching these two social media networks.

Will this strategy work? Considering the statistics – one study shows that 83 percent of US Pinners are female – we’re wondering just how many diehard NBA fans are out there Pinning.

We’ve talked about how important social media is to sports, before. So it comes as no surprise that two sports-based social media networks are launching this one – one for amateur athletes and another for professional sports fans.

JockTalk, founded by former MLB player Shawn Green and digital media guru Brendon Kensel, allows sports fans to interact with the athletes using conversations, photos and videos, including behind-the-scenes Q and A.

SportGrit.com (not yet active) encourages amateur athletes to share their performances online with other athletes. The best part? This website serves as a type of “LinkedIn for sports” – allowing coaches and recruits to find the next big talent.

How will these networks change online activity concerning sports? Which will be more successful?

Take a look at the networks and make your guess.

After just four issues, the National Football League has canceled the NFL magazine.

It says numbers weren’t an issue, nor were subscriptions and ad support.

So what was the problem? The NFL isn’t saying.

The magazine cost $4.99 on newsstands, and an annual subscription ran for $19.99/year.

What do we think? It’s not so shocking.

To its credit, the NFL did try to integrate media efforts…

But maybe the NFL should take a lesson in target audience. Most NFL fans aren’t avid magazine readers – and why should they be? They can get all the NFL news they want on social media platforms such as Twitter (81 percent of sports fans would rather get their sports news from the Internet).

So, even though the NFL says it may pick the magazine back up in the future, we suggest it doesn’t – and instead fix its focus on connecting with Twitter followers and Facebook fans.

Caught up in March Madness?

We are, too. Which is why, when we saw this radial bracket designed for the 2011/2012 Champion League soccer tournament, we were intrigued with the suggestion to begin using radial brackets for the March Madness tournament.

This is how we wish NCAA brackets were designed:

Do we think it will happen? Probably not.

We know ESPN and other sports fanatics are stuck in their ways, but we like the idea of this design. It’s a much more modern take on the classic – and easier to follow along.

And, bonus, for those non-sports fans that like to follow along with a bracket, you could choose your winner with an office-wide round of darts.