The wired connection in most Games facilities appears to be working well, with social media websites, including Twitter and Facebook, freely available, but problems have been reported in some competition venues.

There have also been issues at various hotels being used by the media, as well as by other guests at the Games, where internet, and consequently social media, access is often sporadic.

Speaking here this afternoon ahead of the Opening Ceremony of the Games, Bach remained confident that problems will be rectified "today or, if not, in the next one or two days".

"I have discussed this and are discussing this with the Organising Committee," he said.

"In a very small number of competition sites, some problems have been raised and they have been discussed this morning at a Coordination Commission meeting.

"We have had assurance they are working on this addressing these technical problems and we expect them to be solved.

"We are on the right track." 

Social media is a vital way for athletes to engage at the Youth Olympics ©Nanjing 2014



Many "politically sensitive" websites, including Facebook and Twitter, have been banned in mainland China since 2009 as part of a wider censorship of information available on the internet, on the grounds they "violate national laws".

Earlier this year during Sochi 2014, the IOC claimed they had received assurances from the Chinese Government that "every platform will be available" throughout the Games in Nanjing.

This is particular important at a Youth Olympics because of the focus on communicating with youth populations around the world, and the IOC will be keen to take advantage of their global social media fan base of nearly 35 million people.

This total includes 10 million fans in China on the Government-approved Sina Weibo, a micro-blogging website which is a cross between Twitter and Facebook.

IOC officials have continued to reiterate the commitment of the Chinese authorities to ensure they were available, with communications director Mark Adams telling insidethegames last week that they had been "reliably informed they will be available" from August 10. 

"Everyone knows and appreciates how important social media is, for the media and for the athletes," Bach added today.

"We want a positive message from these successful Games being spread all over the world, by all media forms but including on social media."

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