The Social Media Super Bowl (Again)

Every year that goes by, warranted or not, social media seems to get more hyped for its role in major events.

There are few major events in the United States as big as the Super Bowl. And the hoopla is in full force for 2013. Are you ready for "The Social Super Bowl?"

Last year we witnessed "The Most Social Super Bowl." So what is this year? Let me take a wild guess. The Most Social Super Bowl (Again).

Believe it or not, bloggers have written posts like "The Best Use Of Social Media in Super Bowl" (Insert Year Here) since at least 2007.

In 2008, AdAge announced in a review of Super Bowl spots, "One change from years past: The report card took into account brands' social-media presences."

In 2009, Super Bowl ads were judged by "online activity," which included social media.

Jennifer Van Grove wrote for Mashable three years ago, "2010 is the year social media and the Super Bowl are officially converging." That was also the year Pepsi skipped out on a Super Bowl ad in favor of a multi-million dollar social media campaign.

In 2011, social media response to the Super Bowl was carefully analyzed by Mashable's Lauren Indvik.

In 2012, several Super Bowl ads had their own Twitter hashtags.

What can we expect this year? Half of all Super Bowl commercials will contain Twitter hashtags, CNBC reports. Social strategies will differ between companies, AdWeek outlined. YouTube plays a big role as typical the past few years, as several companies are releasing ads early there as part of their strategy. Mashable has compiled a social media guidebook that includes all the key hashtags for fans.

So on Sunday, let's get social - again - and partake in this great American ritual together. At the stadium, on monitors in front of us, with friends and family, and through the ever-more-popular second-screen.

But let's also remember that this isn't really the first or last "social media Super Bowl."