'Sochi Problems' a Twitter Hit as Olympic Schadenfreude Grows

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A construction worker pushes a cart past hotel buildings in Krasnaya Polyana on Feb. 4.

Image: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

By Sam Laird2014-02-06 17:27:06 -0500

If schadenfreude were an Olympic sport, the Internet would have already earned a gold medal.

Ever since journalists first began touching down in the Winter Games' host city earlier this week, "Sochi problems" has been the hottest conversation topic out of Russia.

Instead of snowboarding, we've seen putrid tap water. Instead of skiing, we've seen dilapidated hotel rooms still under construction. Instead of bobsledding, we've seen toilets that can't flush paper. And that's not even mentioning the journalist who took to Twitter in hopes of trading three light bulbs (precious commodities at his hotel) for a door handle.

See also: Russian Response to Sochi Problems Goes Creepily Wrong

Just how popular has the piling on-become? Through Thursday morning, the hashtag #SochiProblems had been mentioned on social media platforms more than "Team USA," "Putin" or "opening ceremony," according to the online marketing and monitoring company Digimind.

But the unquestioned star of this Haterade binge has been the aptly-named @SochiProblems Twitter account. Its premise is simple — aggregate and retweet photos showing Sochi's bad side. The content is sometimes sad and disturbing. It's often funny, in a dark sort of way. It's almost always a hit.

The account has boomed to 91,000 followers since posting its first tweet just two days ago, on Feb. 4. As of Thursday morning, @SochiProblems was adding thousands of followers per hour. If the attention continues, it could pass the official @Sochi2014 account, which has 125,000 followers, before Friday's opening ceremony.

Here's a taste of why @SochiProblems has become so popular:

Hopefully, after Friday's opening ceremony, actual sports — not used-toilet-paper basketball — will be our main topic of conversation.

Topics: olympics, Sports, US & World