Gaming.. Social Networking.. Very Powerful Indeed

Game design and social networks are merging into one of the most persuasive forces on the net.

That assertion was made by a string of speakers at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco.

"Social networking is a game in and of itself," explained Jennifer Pahlka, co-chair of the conference.

She highlighted networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn that make public the number of friends a person has, posts how well a user does on certain applications and displays what level they are at.

"There are all these game dynamics built into the social web," said Ms Pahlka.

"So the idea that there is a game market here and a web market here isn't true. The two are influencing each other."

Perhaps the greatest effect of that interplay can be seen in the rise and rise of the social gamer.

Recent figures by research firm Park Associates estimates that 34% of US adult internet users play online games weekly.

The moment you make the gaming more personal and meaningful, the better the experience for the user

Guy Ben-Artzi




Those figures present opportunities to developers and social networking sites alike.

For example MySpace has just announced the public launch of its "applications gallery" at Web 2.0. Central to those applications will be games.

Steve Pearman of the firm told BBC News: "This will take what you can do inside a social network to a new level. If you can provide something cool for my users I will be happy."

Meaningful play

One duo who believe they have a cool application that will appeal to the growing social gaming community are Galia and Guy Ben-Artzi.

The Ben-Artzi's are a brother and sister behind a start up called Mytopia, which they describe as a social gaming community where everyone can play together.

It offers everything from chess to Sudoku and hearts to poker which you can play directly from their site or via Facebook, MySpace, Hi5 and Bebo.




"Social networks offer a revolutionary way for people to play with friends and communities that have meaningful value to them in their real life," said Guy Ben-Artzi, who confesses he used to be a gamer who would do anything to win.

"The moment you make the gaming more personal and meaningful, the better the experience for the user," he added.

"The ability to play with the people I care about and connect with them is what is appealing to me," explained Galia, who is a fan of Suduko and plays online with her mother.

"Logging in and playing with strangers was exciting when the internet was new but the modern web is personal and social and it is clear that the internet is being used for social purposes to connect people rather than isolate them."

Gaming principles

One hardcore gamer said the shift to social gaming was inevitable as Web 2.0 flourished.

Lyle Fong and his brother Denis, who once won a Ferrari in a gaming competition, were serious players who also set up Gamers.com as an online community for like-minded people.

He is now the CEO of Lithium Technologies, which makes software for companies such as Dell, AT&T, Sony PlayStation and Nokia using gaming principles.

"We build up these reputation systems with levels and rankings just as you would if it was a game and by applying these gaming principles it helps build these thriving successful communities."

As he eschews his hardcore background, Mr Fong admits that social gaming is here to stay and will only continue to grow for obvious reasons.

"If you look at these sites like Facebook and LinkedIn you can post notes and chat and swap photos but that's not very engaging. Social gaming makes it fun and that's really very neat."

Wow I can stick my work, music, pictures and vids online i didn't know that.. Well Know You Can But You'll Have To Wait.. Why..

Because the new social networking site we-usb hasn't been launched yet.. combining a virtual memory stick and social networking in one, where every user gets memory to store files online so when forgetting their usb at home or abroad they can log in and listen, watch or even read their files.. Wow Social Networking does help, I'm gonna go chuck my usb in the bin.. No you idiot it's still not launched.. Oh Yea

Here's a link >>>>> www.we-usb.com

SpongeBob A Threat.. Wow That Would Be Scary

Ask a parent what they're most afraid of when their kids go online and the answer is unlikely to be SpongeBob SquarePants. Few fear that their children will be indoctrinated into a bizarre new society by Nickelodeon's box-shaped poriferan. They're being naive.

Virtual worlds are the new battlegrounds for toy manufacturers, kids TV channels and software companies with an eye on the youth market. It is the classic no-brainer. These days, kids are so into social networking sites that their parents have to get Bebo accounts just to call them down to dinner. The same kids are also into videogames and would probably be into Second Life if it wasn't aimed at over-18s. So, combine social networking, gaming and youth-friendly virtual living into one experience and you're practically mainlining your brand into the eyeballs of a whole generation.

This was doubtless what Disney was thinking last year when it bought child-friendly online community Club Penguin. It is certainly what Mattel had in mind when it set up Barbie Girls, an online community based around the popular dolls, which attracted 3 million users within 60 days of its launch. It's on more than 10 million now - impressive, but dwarfed by the massively multiplayer animal-rearing community Neopets and its 45 million pet owners.

Now Nickelodeon, which already has a virtual world in the shape of Nicktropolis, is expected to launch two more: one based in SpongeBob's universe, and another named Monkey World, an original IP. The former will be scarily huge, the latter will have its work cut out, with new kid-centric virtual worlds popping up seemingly on a daily basis.

What media companies love about virtual worlds is the opportunity to truly engage with the youth demographic on a symbiotic level. It's not about shouting at kids from a TV set any more; it's about creating a world for them, and then subtly loading it with messages. And hey, if you can't set up a virtual world, why not advertise in one? Social entertainment company Doppelganger has just signed a partnership with in-game advertising specialist Double Fusion, which will allow real-time targeted ads to appear in teen virtual world vSide. Double Fusion CEO Jonathan Epstein referred to vSide as "a place where advertisers can develop powerful interactions with their teen audiences". Sinister stuff.

The imaginative and social universes children used to create for themselves have now been populated by toymakers and TV networks. Virtual space, head space and ad space are the new holy trinity of corporate manipulation and indoctrination. And to think my parents worried about me watching Tiswas.

myGAMMA what the hell is that? I don't know maybe the biggest social networking mobile service in the world.. Oh I Knew That

We are so used to the US dominating social networks it comes as a surprise that a company claiming to have the biggest social network on mobile phones is not Facebook or MySpace but a little known outfit, myGamma, based in Singapore. Its target audience is the "newly connected middle classes" in developing countries and blue collar workers elsewhere. It is trying to attract the millions who can't yet afford a web connection on a PC but who can through entry-level phones such as a Nokia or Samsung. It must be one of the biggest untapped markets in the world; myGamma, owned by BuzzCity in which the Singapore government is the smallest shareholder, is in the throes of a global expansion that could take it anywhere.

It has a claimed user base of 2.4 million subscribers, rising fast. I found it easy to locate communities in South Africa - where there are 200,000 users - and China (despite not being able to communicate) though not Zimbabwe, which would have been particularly interesting at the moment. It has its own mail system and virtual currency and claims to be the biggest network designed for mobiles rather than being a bolt-on to a PC service. It also, unusually, has a global pay-per-click advertising service.

myGamma is 100% user-generated content, which is both a strength (instant global reactions) and a weakness, as too much of the content is unmediated drivel that ought to be off limits to young children. Although designed for mobiles, that doesn't in itself solve the problem of legibility when so much information is squeezed into a small area.

Part of its success is due to low-cost data tariffs in developing countries, such as two rupees a day in India. Unsurprisingly the first significant take-up in the UK (12,000 users) was by T-Mobile, an early adopter of all-you-can-eat data tariffs. Recently Arabic writing started to be typed in from countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia and people have just started joining in Iran. "It just happened," says cofounder Dr Lai Kok Fung, who claims it could cope with a sudden increase in Europe without scaling problems.

myGamma is one of a number of projects in developing countries that could spread to the rest of the world.

MYSPACE's INDIVIDUALITY

Myspace's Uniqueness

This time last year, if you were to lurk in one of those places where “young people” accumulate, chances are you'd hear them barking “What's your MySpace?” at each other through their silly fringes. No need for telephone numbers, email addresses or complicated URLs.

But 2007 might be the year when MySpace becomes, like, so 2006. At the heart of all social networking services is a relatively simple framework, and one of the things MySpace had over its original rivals such as Friendster is the comparative freedom its users are allowed within it: it was also canny enough to allow their users to exploit this to their own satisfaction.

But what happens when, instead of offering a totally blank slate, new social networks crop up to serve the specific interests of an audience? This is what we're likely to see happen increasingly in 2007, as every man and his dog finds a niche social networking site just for them. Literally. Just look at pet-networking site Dogster, car-owning community Boompa, or London Fridaycities, the intentionally localized networking site hoping to nurture real-world connections (more localities are promised for the future).

To make matters worse for MySpace, companies are specializing in every part of the spectrum – with younger users lured to the chirpier and more focused Bebo, and people looking for a higher level of virtual social interaction and representation moving into new spaces like Second Life.

Meanwhile, functionality such as event-sharing (covered previously) and bulletins is being handled better by dedicated services. Take Twitter for example, the up-and-coming communication tool that actively encourages you to barrage your friends with a constant stream of updates about what you're doing via every conceivable platform.

Let's not forget, though, that MySpace is still in a very strong position, and it didn't get there without being flexible. Like YouTube or the iPod it also has a brand advantage and a specialization of its own: a healthy reputation for indie music. Even with white-label equivalents available to anyone off the cybershelf, for MySpace the groundwork has already been done, and for that reason it's not likely to be forgotten any time soon, even if the kids get momentarily distracted by something else.