Facebook social gaming
I think I will stab myself in the stomach with a fork if one more person sends me a stray chicken or cat or whatever it is that people keep sending me; but it’s worth reading this seriously fascinating psychological analysis of why people play that annoying game.
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A few years ago I was trying to determine what cocktails I could make with the alcohol I had at home. I searched the App Store but couldn't find an app that would let me do that, so I built one.
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okay, I read it….yep, it’s fascinating. And it’s an opinion.
I can be the guinea pig. Last summer – when I decided to spend a bit more free time exploring these silly games on FB (important note: I find PlayStation, GameBoys, and all other RPG, video games, etc. to be an EXTREME waste of a perfectly good brain & always have…never owned a system & refused to allow my son to buy one until he left my home to live on his own).
Guess what? I was able to IGNORE my farm(s) & other silly games — even FB (for the most) TOTALLY for over a month as I toured Alabama & then Maine. I had access to internet nearly the whole time (laptop, desktop & Blackberry) & still had no desire to habitually tend anything.
Why? I had lots to do that I didn’t fall into my own routine at home.
I, personally, play around with these silly games to distract my mind from on-setting migraines, anxieties and other troubles of everyday life as I wait in other (sometimes stressful) situations….. traffic, doc visits, pre-class set ups, etc.
I play instead of sucking in more crappy politics from disgusting news sources. I play to get a break from the HOURS upon HOURS of research & grading I do each week.
It’s good. I don’t drink, don’t surf — don’t care to do either. I like to relax & collect cows.
I’m a loser.
Thanks for pointing that out — I wonder what other “bad” habits people have?
Happy week 🙂
j
It’s funny how on dad’s FB page people are getting defensive about playing Farmville…lol
Anyway, Facebook started as a true social networking site, specifically for ppl with college emails, and while I don’t have a problem with it being all inclusive — it seems like after it did, FB also opened its doors to all these stupid games and made FB feel more like myspace in the process… like FB was a “sell-out”.
Which doesn’t make any real sense, because FB is there to make money anyway, so it doesn’t “owe” it to anyone to NOT “sell out” but it just kind of irked me.
And being sent Farmville, Mafia, Yoville and quiz requests is spam to me. SPAM. Which pisses me off because for some reason it feels more intrusive having it happen on FB. (which again doesn’t make any sense). But the creators of Farmville are brilliant because they don’t even need to send us spam to join in, our actual friends are doing the work for them.
At least FB figured out how to make money without asking for a membership fee or something ridiculous like that.
The End (to my non-sensical rant)