INNSBRUCK, Jan 20 - Many Olympians use social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and any blogging platform to reach their fans without having to go through traditional media outlets.

Two-time Olympic Medallist Alpine Skier Lindsey VONN (USA) placed first at the World Cup in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy on Sunday, January 15 and went shopping in Venice with her sister the next day.

Any of VONN’s more than 350,000 Facebook fans and 110,000 Twitter followers would know this from her posts.

On Thursday, she arrived in Austria where she is an Ambassador at the Innsbruck 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games.

VONN posted a photo Thursday to her Facebook and Twitter pages along with the following text: “Had so much fun watching the first run of the men's GS race at the Youth Olympic Games!! Good luck to all the racers in the second run!!”

Youth Olympic Figure Skater Michael PARSONS (USA) follows VONN on Facebook because he admires her as an athlete and role model.

Youth Olympic Ice Hockey player Irene SENAC (ESP) is one of nearly 300,000 Twitter followers for two-time Olympic ice hockey player Alexander OVECHKIN (RUS), who posts about hockey and what he ate for dinner.

Charmaine CROOKS (CAN), a 1984 Olympic Silver Medallist in athletics, and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Press Commission, uses Twitter to share her experiences and she recommends aspiring young athletes do the same.

“Throughout their careers, they will have interviews and there will be many ways to communicate,” CROOKS said. “And the social media is one where they can tell their personal stories in a more strong, personal way that will resonate with their peers and their fans and their family and friends.”

Four-time Olympic Silver Medallist sprinter Frankie FREDRICKS (NAM) manages his personal Facebook account and the page for Athletics Namibia, for which he is the president.

He plans to start posting more regularly to the followers of his Facebook fan page and he suggests that social media is a good way to tell the stories that traditional media do not cover.

“[The fans] don't really know what I do in terms of the volunteering, what I do for the Olympic movement, what I do for my society, what I do in my community,” FREDERICKS said. “And I think, ‘what a nice way to just put something out there now.’”

The IOC hosts social media workshops as part of the Culture and Education Programme at the first Winter Youth Olympic Games to promote responsible social media use among the Youth Olympians.

With each Games, the IOC releases an updated set of social media guidelines for accredited persons, which include athletes, officials, media members and volunteers.

Among the guidelines for Innsbruck 2012 are to write a first-person, non-commercial account without obscenities. Social media restrictions include asking others before posting photos of them in the Youth Olympic Village, not disclosing confidential information regarding other athletes, and not posting video of competitions or ceremonies.

Youth Olympic Short Track Speed Skater Jack BURROWS (GBR) received additional advice from his National Olympic Committee.

“We have had education from our media officer from what we should Tweet, what we shouldn’t Tweet,” BURROWS said.

Youth Olympic short track speed skater Aafke SOET (NED) realizes that she represents the Netherlands whether she is skating or Tweeting, but mostly she thinks, “I’m a teenager," before posting.

The position of IOC Head of Social Media did not exist three years ago.

The IOC entered the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games with five Facebook fans and now reaches millions of fans via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ and Chinese platform Sina Weibo.

IOC Head of Social Media Alex HUOT (CAN) cannot predict which social media site will take off next, but he does not foresee athlete-fan interaction returning, “back to how it was before social media.”

“What won’t change is the ability to have athletes share their experience at the Games, whether it’s through status updates and photos,” HUOT said.

IOC Young Reporter Nicholas Olivier