This post has been sitting in the draft box for more than a week. What seemed like a good idea at first grew stale, but thanks to a good friend, I’m resurrecting it again because he’s helped me to see what I really am and what I’m really trying to do. Everyone, my name is Hans, and I’m a gamer.
No matter how busy I get or mature I pretend to be, I’ll always play video games. I’m glad to know that I’m not alone. In fact, if Facebook has taught me anything, it’s there are a lot more of us out there than we think. You see I always can count on my Mizzou statistics teacher to send me a pair of onyx cufflinks. The retired coordinator of the Missouri School of Journalism graduate program makes sure my farm has plenty of exotic trees. Oh, and my former bishop makes sure I always have a “handyman” to take care of those “special” jobs.
Yes, I’ve been geeking out on Facebook recently, mostly playing Mafia Wars and Farmville. I resisted the trend for a long time, and now I wonder why. Both games are simple to play and don’t require much time. More importantly, playing both games has made me feel a lot closer to my Facebook friends who also play. I barely know my former stats professor, Phil Wood, but I feel like calling him and thanking him for the untraceable cell phones. I’ve talked to a couple of friends from high school more in the last couple months than I have in the last 20 years since we graduated.
It’s amazing how a little social networking game can bring people together. For a gamer, like me, I think it’s especially significant, because for too long I’ve felt cloistered in my gaming pursuits. What I mean is that usually I play games with the same group. We’re the geeks who calculate the damage of wielding two long swords instead of a halberd. Now, however, I’m playing with the cool kids, and as silly as it sounds, it feels good.
The Farmville and Mafia Wars communities out there aren’t collections of nerds pining for the good old days as the New York Times points out. Even though I think my friend Bob Britten makes a great point, I think playing social networking games is more than satisfying the urge we learned from being raised on Nintendo to collect. I think it’s really all about making connections, and I think that’s where the lesson for the news industry comes in.
In my online journalism class, we read a fantastic, if a bit dated, article from Dr. Mark Deuze. He created a continuum for online “journalisms” as he calls them based on two factors: content and connectivity. More than ever connectivity is what is driving online journalism, and I argue it’s what Web audiences expect.
No, I am not saying that news organizations should add goofy games to their sites, but I think they need to do a better job connecting with and giving their audiences ways to connect.
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I think you’re quite right in going beyond the collector instinct, Hans, although I feel the need to further explore the relationship of collecting and social networking sites (I’ve currently “got” all of the cast members of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Twitter except for Sweet Dee, and it’s only because she’s holding out). You realize that the making connections point is yet another echo of Third Places. At their best, online interactions give us a place to be, a coffee shop where we might not be close with the regulars (or our former stats professors) yet always give/get a nod in passing. Why the heck didn’t we do anything with that study?
I read a neat piece on Cracked (yes, really) today that makes some tongue-slightly-in-cheek predictions about where anonymity may be headed. There’s some good insight betwixt the profanity: http://bit.ly/xdRqZ
And dual wield is ALWAYS the best skill. When the big two-handers miss, it’s the same zero you’d get with a dagger, but DW gives you a second bite at the apple.
You are not allowed to comment any more because your links are so interesting I can’t get any work done! Just kidding, of course, Bob. We should, nay, we must revisit our Third Places study. In fact, I see the title now “Facebook as a Third Place.” Meh, it sounded better in my head.
The cryin’ shame is that “MySpace as Third Place” has a great ring to it, but MySpace itself is a gutterborn nightmare. The story of my life: Got the title, just need the content.
Mafia Wars also helped you connect to your lil niece who made a jab at you for playing it! Your jab in return was greatly appreciated and I smiled thinking of you and your wittiness. Didn’t think I’d say this, but you might be right – thank goodness for Mafia Wars!
Well, I haven’t seen you in my Mafia yet. Get on the ball. Actually, I’d rather you become one of my neighbors in Farmville because if I get one more neighbor, I can upgrade to the plantation.
In all seriousness, thanks for the comment. Keep giving the Jazz heck. It might be hard to keep your goal of not using a certain name after tonight’s game. He-who-must-not-be-named did a pretty good Deron Williams’ impersonation. Actually, I should post this on your blog.