Page 261 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

246 8 Social Enterprise and Other Social Commerce Topics

Games on Social Networks Educational Social Games

A social network game is a video game that is played in Games can also be educational as the following examples
social networks, and usually involves multiplayers. Social show. Environmental apps for adults and kids (e.g., for tab-
(network) games may have little or nothing to do with how lets) can be found at ecogamer.org/environmental-games.
social the games are played. However, some games have
social elements such as educating the public, gift-giving, and Example 1: Pollution Reduction Game
helping other or sharing playing strategies. The Philippine- made Facebook game called Alter Space aims
For a game to be more social, it should facilitate and encour- to educate the people on how to reduce pollution. Specifically,
age engagement and communication about the environment it educates the players about the concepts of carbon foot-
outside the game, run on or integrated with a social network, prints and cleaner energy, and how people can help achieve a
and use that network to enhance game play between players. cleaner world. (Inactive now.)

Example: Popular Games on Facebook Example 2: Economic and Finance Game—Empire Avenue
Players can choose from several thousands of games on Empire Avenue (empireavenue.com) is a social media stock
Facebook. Some games are played by 50–150 million people market simulation game where individuals and businesses buy
each. The most popular games each attract tens of millions of and sell virtual shares from each other. The shares can be of
players. Facebook’s list of popular games for February 2014 individuals, companies, etc. The share price is based on the
includes Candy Crush Saga (most popular in 2014), shares’ trading activity coupled with the players’ influence on
FarmVille, FarmVille 2, CityVille, Bejeweled Blitz, Pet the major social networks. The trading is done with reward
Rescue Saga, Criminal Case, Texas HoldEm Poker, Words points called Eaves and Vees. In the game, there are financial
with Friends, and Bubble Safari. (See gamehunters.club/ data and decision-making capabilities about dividends, number
top-games/on-facebook.) of shares outstanding, and share prices, to name just a few.
Representative major Facebook developers for games are Empire has many variables within the game. The reward points
King, Zynga, Social Point, and Pretty Simple. Note that there can also be used as virtual currency to play the Social Market
is a trend to play more casino type games. To enhance the game. Players can interact via popular social networks (e.g.,
game experience, some platforms utilize the players’ social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) across the Web. The more social
graphs. the player is, the more virtual currency the player will earn, and
To learn more about social games, go to www.museum- the bigger the player’s Empire will become. Several major
stuff.com/learn/topics/Social_network_game. brands are already using this site (e.g., Toyota, AT&T, Audi,
and Ford). For details, see Empire Avenue at businessesgrow.
com/2014/01/08/how-empire-avenue-crushed-my-soul.
The Business Aspects of Social Games
Gamers Helped Scientistsc
To understand the variety of games and their properties and
commercial possibilities, we suggest you watch the video For decades, scientists were unable to unfold the chemical
“Social Media Games: Worldwide Gamification Is the New chain of an enzyme of an AIDS-like virus. However, research-
Paradigm for Life and Business” at youtube.com/watch? ers at the University of Washington turned Foldit, a “fun for
v=xCWsgBHY_VU. The video presents opportunities for purpose” program created by the university, which transfers
advertising, marketing, and training, among others. Also, scientific problems into competitive computer games.
visit the site of Zynga (zynga.com), a major vendor in the The gamers were divided into groups and were challenged
field. During the fourth quarter of 2013 Zynga had about 298 to compete by using their problem-solving skills to build 3D
million visitors. It took Facebook 4.5 years to reach the same models of a protein that scientists had been unable to find for
level of visitors that Zynga reached in 2.5 years. However, years. The players solved the chemical chain problem accu-
Zynga’s revenue was overestimated, causing the stock price rately in just 3 weeks (see balita.com/online-gamers-crack-
to decline drastically. As far as revenues, Facebook games aids-enzyme-puzzle). For more about Foldit (“Solve Puzzles
provide very little per person per month income. Electronic for Science”), see fold.it.
Arts, a Zynga competitor, has some games that generate three
to five times more per game. Both companies have gone
mobile. For example, FarmVille2 for iPad and iPhone are Gamification
now available.
For the relationship between YouTube and gamers, see Some social games are designed so that players will connect
Hutchinson (2015). with vendors or brands in the game environments. This is only