I have been thinking about the value of social gaming for the last few months, trying to put into words why social gaming is so critical to your participation in effective social networking. I have become accustomed to responding to the question “Do you Golf?” with “No, but I FaceBook…” Yes, I am joking, but underlying this is the truth, I love FaceBook and am happy to connect with people I meet on FaceBook and get to know them better. In fact, if we don’t connect on FaceBook I may never get to know you better.
My understanding is that golf is a social game ideal for playing with people you want to do business with. Why? You learn how people play the game, whether they are always shooting the long ball to try and get the hole in 1 or whether they play too safe and never see thru the trees instead of around the trees. Social games enable you to play against your friends, FaceBook has become the ideal platform for playing against your friends.
Zynga is the leader of the pack in the world of social gaming. Hundreds of millions of people are playing Mafia Wars, Farmville, Yoville, Treasure Isle, Frontierville, Texas Hold’em and Petville. The games are engaging and fun, better yet, they never end. Can playing games be good for your business? When you are playing with your community on FaceBook, you are essentially playing golf. Your farm becomes a reflection of how you do business. Developing your Farm may be more important than you know. When you land business with someone you enjoy Farming with, who will be laughing at you then?
The above said, I play Bejeweled Blitz on FaceBook. I love seeing the scores of my friends on FaceBook and truth be told, several of my friends have raised up a notch in my book with their impressive scores (no, that is not pathetic). Do I post my scores in news feed on FaceBook, flaunting my scores? No. Do I hide your updates from Farmville? Yes. I get too much information in my newsfeed (even though I very effectively use Lists in FaceBook). I don’t have enough time to read all of your Petville updates, maybe you should consider not posting all of your updates to everyone on FaceBook? You have to remember that what you post in your newsfeed can become pollution and be annoying to your friends, family and business connections.
I was sitting at my favorite bakery, On The Rise Artisan Breads, meeting with a couple of local political consultants when someone sitting near us asked “did you say you are on Farmville?” I watched as two strangers met, talked Farmville and connected on FaceBook so they could cropshare or coop or simply Farm together. My ears perked up as one of them said “I hope you post updates, I hate when people don’t post updates.” I laughed to myself enjoying how different we are, appreciating that strangers can meet each other and connect on FaceBook using Zynga and their social games. I’m still going to hide the updates from your games, but it is up to you to decide whether it is appropriate to post your Treasure Isle update at 10 am on Wednesday morning (could be if you work nights!!!). Stay Social, Start Gaming More!
